February 11, 1372

Kailar's cat sashays over to the remains of Rage and starts nibbling at her giblets.

"Umboth, Roganna, Hlarn, start healing us. If none of you have any healing spells handy, let us start memorizing them. Agulhas and Logan, rememorize your spells. And, Agulhas... try to figure out how to use Rage's staff, just in case."

"Sir, please do not eat Rage. I will promise you a fish the next time I have occasion to catch one. Okay?"

Vanadil raises an eyebrow.

"And who says he doesn't have a sense of humour?" she asks.

"That would have been Rage," answers Umboth.

"Ah, yes."

The cat, meanwhile, ignores Kadlian and keeps eating.

"Hlarn, maybe you had better bring her back, then. I cannot stand watching Sir eat bits of her and I know better than to try to use force against him."

"Aron, Vanadil, please check this place for any other treasure and then guard the entrance way."

Umboth blasts four cure light wounds spells into Sian, for 25 hit points.

"Thank you, Umboth. Please pray for more cure spells. We need to get everyone up to full strength."

Umboth nods and goes to find a quiet corner for a nap.

Searching the chamber turns up more treasure, that you somehow missed noticing earlier, in the excitement of battle.

You find 11 gems (50gp ea.), a potion, a scroll, a broom, a second potion and a buckler.

"Well, the identification of these things will have to wait until later. We have more pressing matters."

"Hey pussy, away from Rage's remains," Logan says as he does a shooing sound with his mouth and movements with his hands.

"That probably isn't a good idea. That cat plays poker with gods and you never can tell what they might owe him," says Sian to Logan. "On the other hand here let me find you some rocks."

"I don't think that is a good idea at all. Cats are not creatures to be messed with, though I do wish he would stop..." Roganna says, turning a bit green at the sight of Rage in that condition. "I think we should prepare Rage's body for transport. "

"Really? Why don't you go play with the cat?" Logan retorts back. "Hey cat, do you talk? if so, why don't you have a philosophical debate with Sian? Oh, that would take a whole two minutes. Really, why don't you play elsewhere?" he tells the cat nicely.

As soon as Logan begins to make threatening noises at Sir, the Cat looks over at him. A funny look comes over Logan's face.

Suddenly he drops to his knees before the Cat, and prostrates himself in a grovelling position.

After several moments of silent Cat worship, he rises, takes out a brush, and begins to groom the Cat.

Sir purrs, and closes his eyes.

"Now that was what I was talking about," says Sian as he starts to laugh, "That is what I needed: a good laugh after having my butt kicked pretty good."

Kadlian laughs at Logan. "Oh, very good, Sir. That was extremely clever of you."

"Thanks Umboth...that makes me feel a lot better," says Sian to his follower.

Turning to Kad, Sian adds, "Maybe we should have one of our clerics carry that scepter. If nothing else in case we need to try and use it. They would be able to have a better idea then anyone else I would think."

Roganna nods. "I think that is a good idea. If you like, I will carry it."

"Hlarn, do you wish to carry it or should we give it to Umboth or Roganna?"

"It might be best not to give it into the hands of a front line fighter. I'll be happy to carry it," Roganna offers.

"As long as I have your word you will not try it out until I or Hlarn order it."

Roganna nods. "There are some thinks I just know not to mess with."

"What makes you believe it is clerical device? Just because it can raise the dead? The device may have been created to be used by a king or general."

"You make a good point, but everything I learned about this from Verona and my King suggested that a high priest wielded it. That does not mean it is a requirement, but let us not take any chances."

"Than I suggest one of the women carry it, they are less tempted by power than men. Rage is an exception. Roganna offered, I'd say let her bear it."

Roganna nods. "Thank you."

Hlarn laughs. "Less tempted? You are certainly joking."

He looks at Roganna. "Before we give the scepter to her, I want to hear her swear an oath that she will relinquish the thing when ordered. I so swear myself now."

"I asked her for her word, Hlarn and she gave it. Are you suggesting something more formal than that?"

"You asked her not to use the device. That is not the same as saying she will hand it back to us when the time comes."

Kadlian nods. "I stand corrected."

"I so swear as well," Roganna says quietly and quite seriously.

Kadlian raises an eyebrow. "Really? You think so?"

With a smile he says, "All people can be tempted by power. However, providing I have Roganna's word, she will carry it."

Hlarn shakes his head. "No need to argue about it. I will carry the device. I already have a kingdom that I will someday inherit, and I do not desire to forge another. Likewise I've already stated my desire to return this device to Verona. I will not be forsworn. But more importantly it is far more difficult for one to take it from me than Roganna. An aerial servant for instance could be summoned to simply swipe the device from us. Roganna is not strong enough to resist such creatures, but I am. Likewise as a dwarf am most resistant to enemy magics that might charm it away from us."

Roganna raises a brow.

"I don't agree," she says quietly.

Hlarn raises an eyebrow. "About what part? About you not being strong enough? My belt sees to that. An aerial servant could easily pick you up and carry you away. And I know my dwarvish resistance is more protection."

"Just the idea of you carrying it," Roganna replies.

"That is a persuasive argument."

The dwarf seems much more at ease since his dire predictions of immediate attack were proven false, and agrees that perhaps now is a better time to heal Rage.

"It is interesting Hlarn that already you disregard Kadlian's orders. He has ordered that no one use it willy nilly, and yet, here you are ready to make the attempt without consulting anyone. Just as Rage did. You are not to be trusted," Roganna says softly, her eyes hard.

Hlarn frowns. "If anyone in this group can be trusted it is I. I who stood face to face with a Death Knight knowing it ment my doom in order to protect the life of Kadlian. I who have risked my life countless times for this group. I who have pledged my word that I will give this scepter back to the one who hired us to take it. To say I would do otherwise is an insult to me. Kadlian was acting on my recommendations that the device might harm anyone who touched it. Rage picked it up safely, as has Zanax. Now my recommendation is to use it."

"I am not questioning your loyalty, Hlarn. I have no doubt of it.

"You say you don't seek more power, but I know how corrupt power makes some, and I think you certainly are suffering from that malady. A ruler of some kingdom makes a poor choice to wield this artifact."

Roganna turns to Kadlian, "What do you say?"

The dwarf shakes his head, "I regret that you think the way you do. I have been called headstrong and one who uses people as tools rather than as people. But I've never broken my word or sought out my own gain over that of my friends."

"That is quite true, Roganna, which is why he is my second. And I trust your opinion, Hlarn."

"Whoa big guy. Shouldn't we wait before attempting to use that device?"

"Exactly. Kadlian has already ordered that we do not use the device without consultation." Roganna replies.

Kadlian looks surprised at Roganna's behavior. "You have some backbone in you, after all."

"I've always had backbone, you just didn't know what to look for," Roganna replies.

"Hlarn, you make some interesting points, but I am concerned about what occurs if we do get into a fight with Mestom's forces. Actually, Roganna, I am concerned about you in that regard as well. But, I did say that I wished you to carry it, for now.

"As far as bringing back Rage, I agree that we should do that now, if possible. So, Hlarn, please retrieve the sceptre from Zanax, use it to bring back Rage and heal the rest of us, if possible, and then give it to Roganna for safe keeping."

"We will need to devise some way to adequately protect the holder of the sceptre while we attempt to return to camp and then Sandas. Think of that little problem."

"Aren't we teleporting?" Roganna asks. "OH, you mean everyone, including the ones that won't teleport. Yes, quite a problem."

"We just might have to leave both ways, a party on land and a party teleporting. It also might serve to confuse our enemies .. though the risk if of course much greater for the party moving by land."

"As I said, the primary concern is that our enemies might send an aerial servant or other being after the device now that it is in the open. We've seen ourselves how a demon might grab someone such as Sasha and teleport with them away. Only one with great physical strength and some magic resistance can avoid that."

"Why would they carry Sasha away, didn't you leave her in Sandas?" Roganna asks.

"I'm refering to a past incident in the Black Keep. As to why, because they could I guess and because it weakened our party at the time."

"With an aerial servant, anything less than ogre strength will not hinder the creature, and its invisibility will make it difficult for any of us to strike it before it can get away. I have heard tales of how Verona used just such a being to punish a rogue drow, snatching him out of the Drunken Dwarf and away before anyone could stop the thing. So if you insist on Roganna carrying the scepter, then I will have to give my belt of giant strength to her."

"That might be interesting actually, I"ve never had the pleasure of wearing such a device," Roganna says.

Hlarn gives her a smirk. "Interesting that I would trust you with my most prized possession, yet you would not trust me in return."

"Hlarn, it isn't you per se I don't trust. It is the nature of power and what it does to people. I don't trust any person at all with the tempatation of that much power, not even myself," Roganna replies somberly.

"If it comes down to that, then you will carry it, Hlarn. I was concerned that it might be taken from you while you were distracted in hand-to-hand combat."

Hlarn laughs. "The odds of that happening are the same as someone taking my axe or hammer!"

"So you will be using the sceptre as a weapon, then?"

Hlarn shrugs. "We'll see how it works when I heal you. If it has the ability to heal at will, then it would work better than any shield and I'll wield both."

Kadlian nods. "And your opinion on charges? Any danger of using the sceptre up?"

The dwarf nods. "Rage proved that it won't kill you by touching it. That was mostly what I was worried about. I think now we need to get everyone to full strength quickly."

"But maybe touching it gives you really bad luck - look what happened to Rage the mage."

"I think the bad luck was of her own making, not the scepter's. But I'll find out soon enough."

"Zanax, can you please give Hlarn the sceptre?"

"This device is not ours to use. Just because we recovered it does not make it ours - or I am mistaken on why we came to get it?"

Roganna nods, "I quite agree with Aron. This is exactly what I am talking about in regards to items of such power. They corrupt quite quickly."

"Yes, we got it for another. But we'll make use of it while we have it. It might be our only chance of keeping the thing until we hand it over. But I would not worry about using it up. Artifacts aren't like other magical devices and are designed to last."

Roganna sighs. "Artifacts aren't meant for mere mortals and you are demonstrating that quite well Hlarn. Where will it stop? Where will you draw the line? You operate on the theory that the ends justify the means, that is the path to evil."

Hlarn laughs. "Healing our companions is hardly an evil act. If the device is to harm anyone, then it would harm me. Is not self sacrifice the path to goodness?"

Roganna sighs tiredly. "No, healing is not evil. I did not say it was. I was not even concerned that the sceptre might harm you. Self-sacrifice is the path to evil, for it means you do not place any value on yourself at all, so how then can you have proper values? Self-sacrifice is the most dangerous path of all, and why I fear that kind of power in your hands Hlarn," Roganna says slowly, ennunciating each and every word carefully. "If your life is worth nothing to you -- the very person who should be concerned with his own life, then other lives are equally unimportant to you."

Hlarn shakes his head. "You have it totally backwards. I certainly hold my life of value, but to cherish it so much that I would not give it up to save another is the selfish act. If anything I hold the lives of my friends on an even higher pedistal than my own. If that is the worst kind of evil, then I must be in league with the devils because I will not change my ways on that score."

Kadlian shakes his head. "If you do not know how to value your own life, Hlarn, how do you know what value our lives hold? And what is wrong with valuing your own life so highly? I am glad you value my life, but I would not trade my own life for yours. I would search for an alternative that would allow both of us to cling to our lives."

Roganna nods in agreement with Kadlian. She turns to Hlarn. "Would you so under-value the personal gift of god by not cherishing what he alone gave YOU? I am surprised you have not already been struck down for not appreciating his gift of your life to you. That you treat the gift of your life so disrespectfully!" Roganna exclaims. "It is inconceivable to me."

"It is just as inconceivable to me that you hold your opinion. But it seems that we shall simply have to agree to disagree." the dwarf says. "For me the idea of saving myself when that life could be spent saving another is the heart of cowardice and evil and would certainly put me in extreme disfavor with my diety. This is not the same as saying I would throw my life away, or that I do not value my life. I value it highly. But if my life can be of service in saving another then that is the price I must pay. On that you can count on me, if no other."

"So any other? You would give your life for a druegar?"

"No, not necessarily any other of course. One I knew was evil I would let perish. But a companion or one I knew was good at heart or did not deserve to die is another story."

"I am not saying I would not save your life at the expense of my own, but that would be a choice that I made at the time, not something I have pledged to do ahead of time."

The dwarf nods. "We each have our own callings. As a priest I must follow my beliefs more strictly than others might. That goes without saying. Of course one does not throw their life away if a better alternative can be taken. But if the choice had to be between my life or another of my companions, then would choose to save you. My soul I know to be safe in Silverbeard's care, and death holds no fear for me."

Roganna shrugs. "It is clear you know not of what you speak -- and that is the danger with you."

"The danger lies within you. By valuing your own life above your fellows, the risk is always there that you will abandon your companions rather than stay and fight."

"Yes. As a great warrior of Tyr once said while exposing himself to lethal wild magic to save his companions, 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.'"

Roganna laughs heartily. "And he be the fool that believed those words. What needs? Who decides? Who is supposed to supply those needs to those people? Perhaps my god 'needs' that thingie we just retrieved than Verona? Maybe it will benefit more people in someone else's hands? Do we do a head count, whichever god has the most poor and needy followers get the scpetre thingie? What determines need? Need for power? For food? For shelter? For a clue by four? Beware of using idle bromides for you know not the source of the metaphysics involved, nor the epistemoloy. It may not mean what you think it means in the original context."

"So, then you should work from sun up to sundown earning wages to feed everyone else. After all, everyone else needs to eat to stay alive and they need the money more than you."

Hlarn shakes his head. "If there were not dragons and orcs and villians that take the work of others for their own gain, then certainly all would be able to harvest the fields or work the forges. But until that day comes, my mission is to see to it that their villany does not go unchallenged."

Roganna feigns shock and turns to Kadlian. "Why surely you give over half your treasure to feed those so unfortunate to have come upon hard times? You certainly don't need all the treasure we found. It is only right that you give it over, I can take it to my temple for you. It is an evil man that refuses to part with his ill-gotten gains. You should be as humble and downtrodden as the rest of the masses, who made you any better? Anyone could have stumbled upon such treasures, why should you keep them? You didn't earn them...why should you benefit because you were lucky enough to find such things? You didn't give all those people a chance to find the treasure before you did," Roganna admonishes, trying to hold back her gales of laughter.

"And what is wrong with working from sun up to sun down to help the community? I have heard that elves have an aversion to such hard work, is this true?"

Roganna can't help but release the building gales of laughter and claps Kadlian on the back. "Surely it must be true dear elf. Elves are nothing but wastrels; everyone knows that. Our successes depend on how and where we are born I suppose and to whom. Elves just are bad blood...no ability in the lot of the lazy slobs.

"Or is it that they respect themselves enough to work for themselves? Hmmm. Interesting question. Maybe they work smarter, not harder. They are pretty magical, but I guess magic might be an accident of birth too, eh? I don't know how you will get out of this one, dear elf. Things are looking bad; once you start tossing ethnic slurs around, things get pretty ugly," Roganna says sarcastically.

"I did not say anything was wrong with it. I stated the end result of your philosophy. And I meant it. If you believe what you said about the needs of the many being more important than the needs on the one, then you, Aron, should be working somewhere to earn the wages to feed everyone."

"True, Kadlian has a point there," Roganna says, getting out a parchment and some ink to keep score. "If that maxim is true, we should all be working in the fields instead of galivanting around the countryside finding piles of treasure."

"In Aldacan, everyone works to support themselves and their family. No one person is expected to give away their earning to feed the rest of the nation. We have taxes, true, but I would like to believe that the taxes levied are for roads and to pay the military. Of course, I could be wrong, but the taxes do seem to be a lot less than those levied in Nlad."

Roganna nods. "I have heard the same, but from the other end. People in other areas envy the Alcadan, while cursing Nlad and other places."

"If Tyr asked me to farm the land in order to feed others I would without question. Instead, Tyr has chosen for me to travel the land fighting for those who can't fight for themselves against evil - giving my life if need be."

Roganna frowns. "But that isn't what we were talking about. You said that the needs of the many outweigh the few. Your god has chosen your path for his purposes, but that has little to do with what you stated. You stated that as a certain principle and made a moral judgement on it yet, you can hide behind your god. If this is a principle you believe, isn't it moral treason to be with us, those that choose not to follow that principle or worse yet, folks like Kad and I who vehemently oppose it? Or does the ends just justify the means in this case. You can tolerate us because you have some higher purpose in life? Interesting."

"Well if Zanax can tolerate your heathen ways, I most certainly can," says a grinning Aron. "Speaking of which, where is our knight in shining armor for this discussion?"

Roganna laughs, looking around. "I'm assuming thta he made off with the thing so that no one here got any ideas about using it again."

Zanax is present, but is being unusually silent.

Getting somewhat serious, "I'm not hiding behind Tyr. Yes, he has chosen my path for his purposes, but he also granted me the freedom to accept or reject that path. I have accepted it willing, with full knowledge that it involves some sacrifice on my part. When I stated that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, it was with the assumption that one cares for their society, family, or say, their adventuring band and that it is the individual's willing choice to make the sacrifice for the many."

"But, Aron, you made it sound like we were obligated or required to sacrifice for our society, family or adventuring band. And I do not agree with that. If I make such a sacrifice, including my life, it has to because I wish to do so."

"It would depend on what we were fighting for Hlarn, as you well know. We all value things differently," Roganna replies quietly.

"I could have left Kadlian to Lord Black once. But I risked my life so that his soul would not be taken. I did not know if help would come in time. If I had valued my life over his, then I would have fled certain death and Kadlian would be forever gone. But I stayed, knowing I was about to die, but in dying giving Kadlian the chance to live today."

"That is all fine and well, as long as you know why you live and for what purpose. I believe there are important things to die for, should it come down to that, the choice is in determining which ones are correct according to your own world view," Roganna replies.

"I trust your wisdom in most cases, but I must disagree now. We shouldn't use it unless we have to, and I don't see that we have to. In fact, I wish that all of our party, living and dead or flying somewhere, with all equipment, followers, familars, loot found, etc. can give this thing to whoever we are supposed to now!"

Suddenly you are all standing or fluttering on the steps leading up to the entrance to the Temple of Tyr in Sandas. With you are all of the followers, and all of your equipment. Rage is still a piece of meat. Logan still brushes Sir.

The weather in Sandas this afternoon is cold, damp and foggy. There is almost a foot of snow on the ground.

The ring on Aron's finger crumbles to dust. He ages by three years.

"Well, that ends that. Wonder if Verona will fix up Rage for the heck of it?"

Kailar returns to gnome-form.

"Could someone tell me what happened?"

Straightening his tunic, Aron replies, "I wished us here."

"I gathered that. Why did you wish us here and what about the
rest of the camp?"

The remainder of Kadlian and Sian's followers, including the treants, who are looking rather disoriented, are all about you.

"It seemed the quickest and safest way for us to return the sceptre before it's power possibly corrupted us or our enemies came to take it."

Hlarn knocks on the doorway to the temple.

"Well, that solved a number of problems. After we give Verona the scepter and get Rage restored I think I'll be taking a few months off to train."

Kadlian motions for whomever has the sceptre now to give it to him.

No one, however, is forthcoming with the Sceptre.

You also notice that Zanax is no longer with you.

The door to the temple of Tyr opens, and an acolyte peers out.

"Yes? May I be of assistance?" she asks Hlarn.

Hlarn turns around and see that Zanax is missing. "Curses!"

Turning to the priest, Hlarn says, "Notify Verona, or whomever is currently in charge if she's not here, that Kadlian's company has retrieved the Scepter of the Gods and it is now in Sandas, but that Zanax the Paladin has just made off with it from her very doorstep! She knows whom he worships, and might know how to find him faster than we do. Run lady, run!"

The lady turns and runs.

The dwarf casts locate object, centered on Zanax's holy symbol.

It takes the dwarf ten minutes to cast the spell.

Meanwhile, a discussion erupts.

"We have to act quickly. Someone should explain what happenned to Verona. Someone should go to Ray Jay and I'll try to locate Zanax."

Kailar starts to scry for Zanax.

"I will speak with Verona and I will see if she can do something about Rage."

"Hlarn, unless you have a locate person or locate object spell available, head for Ray Jay and see if he can help us."

"Agulhas, teleport Hlarn to Ray Jay's."

"I cannot believe that Zanax would do this to us!"

"I can," says the gnome.

"He was a fallen paladin."

Roganna smirks. "I'm sure he still is."

"I thought his god had forgiven him. I still cannot believe Zanax would do this."

"Any chance you rangers can track him? If not, I'm sure the priests of Tyr here will know the location of his god's temple."

"No, it is not likely that we can track him. However, Verona should be able to locate him using a spell. Or Ray Jay could..."

"When the priests of Tyr arrive, we should inform them immediately of Zanax's theft. They will be able to find the thief! His god probably gave him his powers back only if he stole the device."

"Yes Aron, you know everything," Roganna says.

"No, only that Zanax stole the scepter. By the way, any chance you're meeting Zanax or one of his cronies at the inn?"

"Don't you know how to find out?"

Roganna rolls her eyes. "Oh calm down, you ninnies. Zanax has left word that we will meet with us later. If you choose not to believe what he has said, then so be it. Since he has been in on this from the beginning though, I would wait and see what he has to say. Because Aron suddenly wished us all back here, Zanax didn't have time to explain. Weren't you all listening? Sheesh!"

Kadlian faces Roganna, showing a lot of surprise. "Excuse me? How did Zanax leave word? Did he not arrive here along with the rest of us? How would he have time to leave word? And how do you know of this when the rest of you do not?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you hear him?" Roganna asks. "You know, that telepathy kind of stuff. Weren't you listening?"

"He can chose who he talks to. So, he must have just spoken to you."

"And why did you not say something sooner?"

"Well, since I thought you heard and chose not to comment and created this other commotion instead, I thought you were making a plan and trying to confuse the issue so that everyone on the street wouldn't know what we were up to," Roganna snaps, waving her hand to indicate the crowds of people and keeping her voice low.

"Ah. Thank you."

"Now why don't we retire to a comfy room, have a nice long hot bath to wash away months of grime and wait for what Zanax has to say. Honestly!" Roganna says with obvious impatience.

"Right. If I hadn't wished us here, the thief would have ran off with it while we all slept. Zanax has stolen from the church of Tyr!"

"What did Zanax say?"

"He said he would meet us later, that because Aron did the wish thing, he didn't have time to explain," Roganna replies.

Kadlian sighs. "I do hope the brings the sceptre with him. Or I am going to be very cross."

He shakes his head sadly. "I cannot believe Zanax would steal this from us. I find his behavior inexplicable and nearly unforgivable."

"If it is currently inexplicable, how could it be unforgivable? For an elf, you sure don't make much sense," Roganna says. "But perhaps you are just very good at jumping to contusions."

"I said nearly unforgivable. I do not know his reasons, so I cannot say it is so. But, to take the sceptre from this group with no explanation? Well, considering he knew who we were going to give it to and that Verona had my word that I would do so, I find his leaving very disturbing."

"I'm heading for the Inn. You may all do as you wish," Roganna says, giving some a quick wave before heading off.

"Indeed, we shall. Like seeing to the ressurection of Rage, perhaps?"

Roganna pauses as if suddenly realizing something. "Uh...I take it the wish didn't work completely as Rage isn't bashing all you deadbeats upside the head," she says softly, biting her lower lip. "We do still have her remains, don't we? I guess she will have to wait until we learn what is going on."

"I will ask Verona to ressurect Rage. Aron's wish did not include bringing everyone back to full health."

"Do you have enough funds, or will it be dependent on Verona, who I am sure will not be happy at this particular moment in time," Roganna asks.

"I do not have enough money on me to pay for it. We will be dependent on Verona."

"LIke she is going to do that without the little gift we brought?" Roganna looks at Aron. "See what all your rushing did?"

"She might have a scroll, but I agree. I just want to get Rage back with no further delay, if possible."

Aron goes up to the temple door, and stands beside Hlarn, who is still casting locate object.

"Or maybe the priests of Tyr will if she'll help track down the thief."

He bows to the acolyte...a different acolyte than the one who just ran away.

"I am a monk of Tyr. A theft against the church has occured."

"A theft?" she asks, "Of what?"

Hlarn is already flying off after the paladin but takes time to prepare. "He did not leave word with me... Kailar... fly along with me and be my eyes. I can not see invisible objects. Kadlian, your flying ability should be working as well. Roganna, if you won't come with us, then be of service and get Rage raised in our absense. Umboth, you have the scroll with raise dead upon it. Ask Verona to use that if she insists on a fee, but see if she'll due it in gratias for past service first."

"Hlarn, do you believe that Zanax will not return it to us? I would rather not go off half-cocked..."

"Agulhas should try Ray Jay. Someone here can see if Verona could help... that aerial servant I mentioned for instance."

Hlarn still takes off after the paladin. "We have a chain of command here, and Zanax has broken it. He could have just as easily told Kadlian or me directly. All I know is that he has already said he did not want to return the device, and didn't think he was obligated to."

Hlarn turns to Kadlian and Kailar. "Come with me now or never. I can find Zanax. The rest of you get Rage raised. Contact Ray Jay and tell them I'll be there shortly."

Kadlian sighs and takes to the air.

Kailar follows Hlarn.

Agulhas, Sian, Aron, Roganna, Logan and Sir remain on or about the steps of the temple.

Logan suddenly snaps to.

Verona comes to the door, accompanied by the original acolyte.

"Please accept my apologies for the delay in answering your call. I was in seclusion. Now, what has happened? You are back earlier than I expected. And you have news of the Sceptre?" she says.

"Phew," exhales Logan, "anything happen while I was 'occupied' ? he asks the group. "Oooh, we aren't in the dungeon anymore, good!"

"We just arrived in Sandas, with the Sceptre, when one our party, Zanax - a follower of Votishal, ran off with it. The others in our party are trying to find him now." Pointing to the remains of Rage, Aron adds, "Can you help her? She died in the battle for the Sceptre."

Roganna glares at Aron and departs.

"Zanax ran off with it?" Verona says as Roganna leaves. It is clear by her tone that she knows who Zanax is. "What are the circumstances? And please come in. We shall see to...Rage immediately."

She motions to her assistants to see to Rage, and gestures for you to enter.

Sian turns to his followers.

"Umboth, go with Aron and if they need that scroll give it to them like Hlarn said," says Sian to his follower as he moves closer to him. They exchange a few low words.

"Yes, milord," says Umboth.

"Do any of you others know this city at all? Or are you all natives of Strabath?"

The followers reply negatively to the first question and positively to the second.

"Roganna, wait up a sec!" shouts Sian, motioning to the rest of his followers to follow him he rushes up to catch up to Roganna.

The rest of you head inside, accompanied by Umboth.

"In order to get the sceptre to you as quickly and safely as possible, I wished us here. While we were waiting for someone to come to the temple door, Zanax ran off with it. Roganna claims Zanax told her he would meet with us later."

Verona pauses, as her assistants carry the body of Rage over to the altar.

"But why would he run off with the Sceptre?" she asks Aron, turning. "That seems so out of character for him."

Without waiting for an answer, she turns back to the altar, and starts chanting words of power over the body of Rage.

The mangled remains of the mage glow, then become whole again. The body shivers, shudders, and then breathes.

Rage opens her eyes.

Verona steps back.

"You are alive again, Rage," she says, then turns to one of her acolytes. "Bring her tea. Bring us all some tea."

The acolyte turns and hurries off.

Through the front door comes Nuanna.

Verona turns to Aron.

"You were about to tell me about Zanax's betrayal..?"

Rage reaches for her staff and sees if everything else is together. She looks for her pussy as well, while she blinks to see things clearly.

The cat is not present.

"Thank you Verona, for your help." she says slowly. "I'm not sure what happened, but I need... I need... some fresh air..."

"You should rest, dear," says Verona, but makes no move to stop Rage.

She stands and makes to leave, slowly, leaning on her staff as she mutters to herself. "Where is everyone?"

Then she becomes aware of what Verona has just said.

These words catch Rage off guard and she falters a moment.

"What are you talking about?" the mage says, "Aron, you have not been with this group that long, and I am sure Zanax would not every betray us. I think you might be the deluded one."

"Rage, you were toasted and Aron was able to wish us out of there after the battle. Once we arrived back, Zanax and the scepter were gone. No explanation, poof.. so pardon us if we think he betrayed us!" Logan replies in an even tone, angry at Rage, but still careful as she could blast him into pieces if he pisses her off too badly. Also, he is still in a tad of shock from Sir's mental takeover.

Rage glares at Logan. She is about to say something, but shakes her head sadly as she walks away, staff in hand.

"Wait Rage - if you need rest, you should stay here at the temple. The inn may not be safe and I don't know if you are capable of defending yourself at this time."

Aron gives Logan one of those 'can you help me out' looks.

"I'm leaving. Thank you again, Verona, for your assistance, but I need to get out and think for a while."

Aron turns back to Verona.

"After the battle with the demons, during which Rage died, I wished our party here to deliver the sceptre to you Verona. When we arrived, Zanax disappeared, taking the Sceptre with him. Roganna claims that Zanax told her that he would meet up later with us. Most of our party is out looking for him, with the exception of Roganna who's at a nearby Inn."

"Thank you."

Rage departs.

Verona looks disappointed and grave.

"You have no idea as to why he took the Sceptre? What his plans with it would be?"

"No, and that is why Kadlian and the others are trying to find him."

"Have you any more to tell me?"

When Aron does not answer, Verona says, "Then I must commune."

She turns and hurries away.

The acolytes escort you to the door.

"Your news has sure upset her," one of them comments.

As Agulhas, Aron, Logan, Umboth and Nuanna leave the temple of Tyr, they see Rage, Sian and his followers just coming together a short distance across the square.

"Been kicked out of my god's church, don't really feel like following Rage...anyone know where Zanax's church is at?" asks Aron.

Listening to Aaron, Sian raises an eyebrow.

"No," replies Agulhas somberly. "Does anyone know where to find Ray Jay? I think I've been there before, but damned if I can remember where. I must see if this Ray Jay can help to locate Zanax."

"I think we will have a better chance than bothering an arch-mage," Rage says curtly.

"I concur with that....do you know what is going on, Rage?" asks Sian as he moves closer to Rage.

They exchange a few quiet words.

"Rage you doing okay? We need to talk before something happens that we all are going to regret," says Sian quickly to Rage.

"Agreed," the mage replies. "We need to find Kailar, Roganna, Kad, and Hlarn. There is something we have overlooked and need to discuss it."

"Umboth, did you put any healing into this poor woman? She still looks like she is going to fall over," says Sian

"I did not," replies Umboth, "A raise dead spell leaves the recipient weak for a time. Give her a chance to recover."

Rage waves off Umboth. "I'll be fine once I get some rest. Which I don't think I will get for a while. There is work to do, and more importantly, research."

Logan gets horny.

"So, Nuanna, are you one of Umboth's followers or a woman of your own mind?" he asks as this whole scepter situation is starting to bore him.

"I am one of Lord Sian's followers," she replies, then adds with a smile, "I serve Forseti as well...though not quite as forcefully as Umboth does."

"Logan, we have had this conversation before..." growls Sian. "Go to the Drunken Dwarf and find some wench. Leave the women of this party alone. Especially the ones under MY protection."

"Rage was caught up to speed, and she's still pissed at me, OY, this group will make me lose my hair too early!" he says.. then winks at Nuanna. "Later, sweetie," and leaves the group to go to the Inn and check up on Roganna.

"Either I'm a warrior of Tyr or a thief," Aron goes back to the church and knocks.

After a moment the door opens, and the same acolyte looks out.

"I was instructed by my party to see to informing Verona of the missing Sceptre and getting help for Rage. Both tasks are completed. I wish to assist the church now."

"Please come in," the acolyte offers.

As Aron enters the temple again, Rage turns and goes hobbling off towards the 'Dwarf. Logan is ahead of her.

The rest of you follow Rage.

As you approach the inn you see Kadlian's treants loitering about in front of the place.

Barker - always the talkative one - steps up to Sian.

"We are leaving this unnatural place of stone and people, and going into the woodlands to the west. When Kadlian needs us, he will find us there."

With that, the treants turns and walk west...leaving a crowd of onlookers regarding the creatures curiously.

With Logan pointing the way, you head into the inn.

The Inn of the Drunken Dwarf is quiet late on this winter afternoon.

They see Windul and Wizbang, with the blink dogs, at a table. The tabletop is littered with empty bottles and beer mugs. Even the blink doogs have been imbibing. Wizbang looks rather inebriated.

Standing just off to the left of the door is a rather nervous looking young man in the robes of a mage or a librarian...just recovering from a major blushing session.

"Mister Sian!" calls out Luthus the innkeeper, from behind the bar, "An' Miss...Rage, ain't it? An' that has to be A-Argulhoos, there, too!"

Logan, still bored and still horny, wanders off.

After a few minutes Logan returns with Roganna, plus another man. The latter is a stranger to all of you save Malvis.

He and Roganna see that a tired looking woman, covered in tatoos, a wood elf and a bald mage have joined the small gathering in the common room.

"Roganna, now is not the time to get busy with a boy toy," the mage says.

"Up yours Rage. Next time make an appointment if you need me," Roganna replies with a grin. "You are just jealous because you don't have one. You aren't looking so hot either, a day at the spa might do wonders for you and get you that boy toy you've always wanted."

Rage looks at Roganna. "I would have chosen someone more refined." the mage says. Then she looks at her clothes, covered with gore and blood. "You are correct, I will need to change. But I doubt that I should do it here in public. However, it's been a rough day, as you probably have figured out."

A tall, very-well proportioned young man descended the stairs with Roganna. He has long blond hair and piercing blue eyes. His tanned face bears witness to his familiarity with the outdoors. Although he is dressed in street clothes, you detect a military bearing in his stance. The longsword in his scabbard looks at home. The man does not respond to the insult. He simply smiles at you, exhibiting white, evenly spaced teeth.

Looking at Roganna's boy toy, the woman speaks. "Who are you and what is your purpose in life?"

"Dor D'Och, recently of the Baron's service, at your service, Madam," he replies, smilingly broadly. Then the smiles fades slighlty as he ponders the last part of the question. At last he answers, again with a smile "I don't know my purpose in life. Do you?"

"Well Dor D'Och, recently of the Baron's service," the woman begins, "I do not need your service, unless you have training in the magical arts, those with skill, I need. And do not Madam me, if you value your sanity.

"As to my purpose in life, yes I know mine, and it is clear." The woman looks to Roganna again, "It looks like you have a winner."

Dor laughs. "I meant do you know my purpose in life?"

"At the moment it seems to be playing with fire. I think death has tempered me for now, Dor D'Och, recently of the Baron's service. I remind you of the old, and very true saying, Never meddle in the affairs of mages for you are crunchy and good with ketchup," Rage says, shaking her head.

"Ladies, could you please calm down? I have had a very stressful time here and would like some answers. Rage you said Isabella knew what was up with Zanax. Could you please let me know before I do something rash like the rest of them?" grumbles Sian.

Rage turns to Sian.

"We are calm." the woman says. "Isabella only knows a secret I cannot tell, and I am extrapolating from there. We need to sit tight until he contacts Roganna again, since he thinks I am dead. Unless he has contacted someone else."

"Right now, we need to determine the best action for us, and that is hard until we get everone together and get information collected."

"Luthus where is my mead? You would think that I would need to serve myself here," growls Sian.

Rage points to the cup by Sian's hand. "You mean that one?"

"I sure did like it better when I could just keep quiet and do my thing," says Sian as he picks up his glass and takes a long swallow.

"That is the price of fame and success," the mage says.

Turning to Dor, the wood elf says, "Well being as you are formally of the Baron's court what can you tell us of the happenings around here? And speaking of which why are you not with the Baron anymore?"

"I was not in the Baron's court. I was in his army," Dor replies. "I don't know any magical arts. Perhaps that is why they let me go. But I do know how to fight," he adds with a great laugh.

"Ah, the Baron's court, what a good place to court Baron's," Rage says, continuing her conversation, "How smart are you? Can you solve fermat's last theorem? How about inverting a phase-contrast converter? Do you know what an amino acid is? What about the difference between a hormone and a vitamin?"

"No, no, no, and no," he shrugs.

"It's easy to make a whore moan," the mage says, laughing her own joke.

Shaking her head, Rage continues. "So, gather around everyone, we need to plan. Buttercup marries Humperdink in little less than one half an hour. We do need a wheelbarrow, however, and Nesfarto. Do we have Nesfarto?"

"I need to contact Zanax, and quickly."

"I can't contact him, I have to wait for him to contact me. You know that," Roganna replies with a frown.

"Well, I want to talk to him when that happens. Let me know and we will arrange something," the mage says. "If what Isabella tells me is correct, you and he share some bonds that may be needed. I suspect that his fears are founded, contrary to what some others may think. I am hoping that Hlarn and Kad use their heads if they are out and about."

Roganna rolls her eyes, "I never had you pegged as an optimist."

"I am not being an optimist, since I strongly fear that they are not thinking," Rage replies. "Sian here was the first one to use his head, sending his followers out to look around. That should help gather information. I suspect that Kad and Hlarn do not understand what is going on and will ask the wrong questions." She shakes her head, "It is a shame that I cannot visit the Arch-Mage."

"By the way, what is the name of your boy-toy?" the mage asks, "Malvis here is an illusionist, and seems to be quick of hand, and knows a couple of card tricks that impressed Isabella. He may be joining us, and I have already told him that we will now begin to dispense with our Paranoid friend's tests, which I don't remember you taking anyway." The mage smiles. "And Sian here is going to offer his support in that cause as well."

Roganna grins. "Nope, somehow they never got around to it. Must have been because of those people after me that were trying to murder me because of some sensitive material I had... "

Rage laughs as well. "Well, let us make sure that our dour dwarf doesn't spoil the party tonight. What was so special about that sensitive material, anyway?"

Rage looks at the two newcomers. "Do any of you know where a bridge is? "

"Bridge? Did I miss something?" Roganna asks with a frown.

"Hmmmm..." Malvis ponders for a moment, "Why a bridge? What kind of bridge?"

"A troll bridge." the mage says. "Or any other bridge around here, probably to the west. Master Yoda has told me to be mindful of the living force," she adds as if that explains everything.

Dor provides directions to the nearest bridge, which lies just outside of the East Gate, where the Old Dwarvish Road crosses the Green Oakely River.

Rage shakes her head. "No, I think I need to find one farther out than that. Dor, since you are familar with this area, I would ask you to check the fighters guilds and those of the scribes, or whoever might have maps of this area. I am looking for a bridge that has some ruin's nearby.

"And you Malvis, you need to go to the guilds and begin to examine information on the scepter of the gods," Rage instructs. "Leave no stone unturned, I need that information."

She waves her hand near the two and says, "I will pay you in republic credits."

Roganna frowns. "Republic credits are useless here."

Rage turns to Roganna and waves her hand while saying, "Credits Will do fine."

Roganna frowns again, giving Rage an odd look.

"No they won't," she repeats, looking a bit irritated. "What do you think you are, some Jedi Knight? Mind tricks don't work on me...only money...

"Hey, not a bad line, actually," Roganna says looking pensive now. "Not a bad line at all."

Rage laughs and tosses Roganna a silver piece. "Here's some money, go get me a drink."

Roganna chuckles, pocketing the coin.

"Sure," Roganna says, getting a mug of water for Rage.

She hands the mug to Rage and waves her hand over it as she speaks, "Water will be fine."

"I'd sooner kiss a wookie," the mage replies with a frown looking at the liquid.

Roganna chuckles. "That can be arranged. Drink up."

Rage shakes her head and looks at Roganna.

"That would be bad," the mage replies, staring at Roganna.

Roganna raises a brow, giving Rage a look. "Well, remind me. I'm a bit fuzzy on this 'good' and 'bad' thing at the moment."

"Don't cross the streams," Rage says sagely.

Roganna smiles archly, "I suppose that is a safety tip?"

"It is. Isabella says so," Rage says. "Everyone, remember, never cross the streams."

"Well, remind Isabella to steer clear of the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man, too," Roganna replies.

Rage looks distracted for a minute, and then speaks in a lttle girls voice, "But...but...he was so...so nice, we used to make smores.."

The woman begins to cry.

Roganna hugs Rage. "It's okay Isabella, I didn't mean it that way. The Sta-Puff you made smores with is a different Sta-Puff than I was talking about. Hey, how about making some of those soon, I haven't had them for ages and I really like them. Do you like almonds in your chocolate?"

In the same little girl's voice, Rage answers, "I love almonds, and so does Molly, but Erica says that she hates them, except as sugared almods. Audrey does not like chocolate. Miss Rogana, is my friend ok? I miss him, you know, and so does Molly, but she won't say that..." the woman says, as she hugs Roganna back. "Can I have some milk, please?"

Roganna smiles, "Okay, milk it is." she says with a shudder. She motions for the bartender to get a mug of frothy milk for Isabella.

Rage takes a hearty drink of the milk, "Thank you Miss Roganna."

Roganna smiles. "You are quite welcome Isabella."

"I think your friend is fine. It's just that we've been out of town so you haven't been able to see him. His name is Occa, right?"

"No, my friend Zanax," the woman says, "He left without saying good bye. it went all dark, and then there was a nice woman telling us that we could have our own bodies if we find some thingies and get them to the proper owner. I don't know what that means, but Audry and Erica kinda think that something important. and that means we have to listen them... but I'm getting stronger and came out to say hi... is there any chocolate?"

Roganna quickly rummages through her pockets and produces an almond chocolate bar for Isabella. "Here you go. With almonds even."

The woman opens the bar and counts the almonds, "There are only 8 here. You got cheated Miss Roganna. We usually get nine. Molly once even got ten...but she shared with me."

Roganna grins, "That figures, they just don't make them like they used to. Quite a shame since chocolate without almonds is kind of dull."

"It is...it is...almonds make the chocolate, except for cake...that is good too, you know," the woman says.

Roganna grins, "Only almond cake of course."

"With key lime cream cheese frosting. Ragina made that once a long time ago, and that was really, really good. Maybe she can make it again for us... I'll ask her ok?"

"I'll share with Molly, of course, since she likes chocolate too. But Erica wants some chicken wings...but we want our chocolate first," the woman takes a bite of the bar. "Do you want someone else comeout?"

Roganna shakes her head, "No, I'm talking to you right now." She says with a smile. "I'm sure we can round up some chicken wings for Erica a bit later. You enjoy your chocolate, I know you haven't had any for awhile."

"Thank you Miss Roganna, you're nice, no matter what some of the others say," the woman says smiling, taking a bite of chocolate and a drink of milk.

Roganna laughs, "Indeed. Well, I'm the best you've ever known."

"Not like that oogie druid, or that silly oogie short man with a beard. Sian sir is pretty nice, and he's always protected us, so has Kadlian sir, even if he still needs to learn more. Yes, Miss Roganna, you are the bestest, nicest person we know," the woman says with a smile.

"Zanaz is fine, he was talking to me earlier because he couldn't talk to you guys. He'll talk to you soon, I know it. I'm curious about this woman you talked to though. She said she could get you each your own bodies? Wow...I didn't know that was possible. What did she want you to do? You said she wanted you to get some things? Does this have anything to do with the scepter thingie?" Roganna asks.

The woman nods through a bite of chocolate. "I don't know. She said something about getting all the parts together, but I don't know what the parts are. Can I have some more milk before Erica comes please...she doesn't like milk either...she likes that oogie beer stuff."

"Sure." She gets another mug of milk for Isabella. "Parts together...interesting. It has to be other articfacts connected to this sceptre thingie. Guess we will have to research that. I don't know what else might be connected to this, though I think it was on the wall, actually."

She turns to Logan.

"I don't know, I'm only seven," the woman says, "You need to ask Logan poo."

Roganna chuckles. "And a three year old should know more than you?"

"I don't know."

"Logan, do you remember any references we saw while getting the sceptre? Seems there was some poem, but the details escape me at the moment," Roganna says.

"Nesbit, Nesbit, she's the one, if she don't know it, Argulhas can."

"Eh?" Agulhas lifts his head from his ale and turns it toward the Rage-vessel. He eyes the two ladies as they continue to talk, raises an eyebrow, then returns his attentions to his heady brew.

"Well, you are right, Nesibt might know and Argulhas certainly will," Roganna says with a grin to Logan.

"He's nice, Mr. Argulhas. Ms. Nesbit was fun, but she got big, and we couldn;t play tea party any more. Maybe Erica will make him small again and we can play tea party...unless someone else wants to play with us."

Agulhas turns his torso as well as his head this time. "Huh?" He appears completely oblivious as he turns back to the bar. However, his ruse is revealed as he speaks the following softly.

"The sceptre, the sword, and the robe. The South, the North, and the East.

The sceptre, the sword, and the robe. The grave, the bridge, and the city.

The sceptre, the sword, and the robe. Who shall have them shall have an empire rise again."

The mage blinks twice. "That is what I was trying to remember. Thank you Argulhas." Turning to the two newcomers, she says, "You see my interest in a bridge, but it is to the north I belive."

"Come we have so little to do, and so much time to do it in."

"Phew," Logan breathes out, "Lucky me, I didn't even remember the first line, seems overlords in the form of cats had an effect on my memory! Sorry, but it seems my mind was and is elsewhere," he says with a feeble grin as he shifts his focus back to Rage.

"Clearly we will begin your training by improving your memory," the mage says. "Get me a deck of cards, and a clear table."

"Great," Logan says, his tone less than thrilled. He approaches Rage's new friend, "Ho, friend, may I borrow your deck of cards?" he asks of Malvis. After he receives the cards, he clears the table and hands the deck to Rage.

Rage looks at Logan. "First, clear you mind and focus. The magical arts are about control and focus." the mage looks at Roganna, "And it's all about control."

Logan sits down across from Rage and begins to breathe deeply, as he closes his eyes. He inhales slowly and exhales in the same fashion. Within a half a minute, Logan opens his eyes and says, "All clear."

"Now, I want you to shuffle this deck and begin to memorize the order of the cards. I will give you 15 minutes to memorize the first 25 cards. By the time I am finished, I expect you to do the whole deck in less than 5 minutes.

"And yes, Logan, after you have tried this, and I see how good you can do, then I will show you the secrets that help improve memorization. It helps to have a brain the size of a planet, of course."

Logan suppresses a smile and does as she says. He shuffles the deck and begins to commit the order of the deck to memory.

Turning to Sian, Rage says, "Sian, we may need to pay a visit to that paladin fellow and see if he has a good library. Roganna, has Zanax tried to contact you in the last ten minutes? I need that call."

Roganna shakes her head. "I'll let you know as soon as he contacts me."

"You talking about Yuri...his place is a good ways away from here. We may want to do that as a last resort. Unless we can get a mage to teleport us there," says Sian.

"I cannot seem to remember if I have been there before," Rage says. "If I have, we can pop over there later, when I am recovered."

Rage shakes her head, "No, actually, I do not think I have been there, so teleportation is out."

"Nor, do I believe, have I," laments Agulhas. "Yes, Rage, I am in great need of my own spell books. Who is this friend of which you speak?"

"Yes, we will begin in the morning, once I have secured us our place," the mage says, "You too will need to get some traveling and standard spell books."

Finally, turning back to Logan, "Now, Logan Obi-Wan, are you ready for training? The first step will be to secure some more permenant lodging where you can begin to make copies of spell books for yourself."

"Aye, Rage, I think I can procure a room here or is there a better location you seek?" he comments, his usual wise ass remarks subdued.

"How are you feeling?" he asks sincerely. "As great as I desire learning now, I can wait until you are better, you have gone through some extreme stresses over the past day."

"I have a better location in mind, but I will check that later. You need to get blank spell books and other necessary materials for ink together," Rage says ticking items off on her fingers.

"I am not a member of the guild and all of my old books and components are ash right now. May I dip into the party treasury to purchases a new book and necessary items from any of your contacts in town?" he asks, ashamed that he is so ill equipped.

"I suspect you will be well suited later when our coffers are checked," the mage says sagely. "And your concern for my health is appreciated and noted. However, we have a great deal to do and a little time ot do it in."

"I am ready, mistress!" he says with a nod of his head.

"I doubt that highly, but you will learn," Rage says with a frown. "Argulhas, my friend, I know you have lost your books as well, and it is time to see if you can learn some more spells. We will visit my friend and see if he is in, and if he will allow you access to his books."

"I do have to do some things myself as well, and find out some other information."

"Oh, Malvis, did I ever tell you the story of the polar bear? It's Isabella's favorite."

"What is it we are doing again? Aren't we after those hotheads? You know, Kad and Hlarn etcetera."

Rage turns to Malvis. "So, lad, you are from around here. Can you rustle up a map for me?"

Malvis, who up to this point was enjoying immensely the sight of someone, other than himself, going through the training/interrogation process with Rage, who seemed to have many mysteries buried within her, is suddenly startled as Rage's attention shifts to him. "Why, yes, I think I can procure a map for you. I assume you mean a map of the local area? If so, I can get one quickly, I believe." Malvis appears satisfied with his response, and stands, grinning, in front of Rage.

Rage steeples her hands and looks at Malvis. "And bring me back a Henckel, too."

Momentarily taken back by this latest request from the powerful, eccentric, and perhaps multiple-personality, mage, Malvis' eyes go wide, but he quickly recovers, and says, "Certainly." Even though he has never heard of this 'Henckel' person, he reasons that he must be part of Rage's party of adventurers, and should prove easy to track down. So, self-satisfied at his reasoning prowess, Malvis turns on his heel and heads out the door to fetch both a map of the local area and a Henckel. "I wonder what kind of adventurer this Henckel is?", muses Malvis to himself as he leaves.

After about twenty minutes, Kadlian, Hlarn and Kailar enter the Inn of the Drunken Dwarf.

In the common room they see Rage, Sian, Windul, Wizbang, the blink dogs, Agulhas, Logan and Roganna. Staying close by Roganna is a handsome young man who carries himself with a military bearing.

The handsome young man sees a rather bloodied high elf, a rather bloodied dwarf, and a clean gnome entering the common room and coming over.

"Sian, can you go get that Mavlis fellow?" the mage says, "He should have my map by now."

"Kadlian, do you find out any information? I see many things, I see two great houses. House of Pancakes and House of the Rising Sun," the mage says, gazing off into space.

"I do not understand."

"What do you not understand? Humperdink marry Buttercup in little less than one half an hour, and we need the Men in Black to help us stop the alien in the Edgar suit.

"I guess being mostly dead all day tends to make on see things in a different light. Is there a Miracle Man in the house?"

Roganna chuckles. "Ain't that the truth! Sorry though, I don't know of any miracle men."

"I do not understand the references to people that you are making."

"What's to understand? He who cannot be named has said that the stars become aligned and that our actions will open the gate and summon the Muad'ib. The Jihad is close at hand and our actions may tip the balance between the dead and the live."

Kadlian looks like he is going to say something and just shakes his head.

Hlarn, though, shakes his head. "Don't worry, I think it is just Rage's inner child coming out. An appropriate place to do so now that we are not in immediate danger. I trust that others of her are still aware of what we say."

The mage's voice changes yet again. She stares at Hlarn as if looking at something inexplicable.

"You make several false assumptions here, and your basic premise is entirely incorrect. Rage does not have an inner child in the manner you suggest. Please be more accurate in the future."

Hlarn shrugs. "It might be inaccurate, but it serves its purpose in keeping me from being bothered by your strange ways. I was just trying to reassure Kadlian as well. But if you want accuracy, you could always start by explaining things more clearly yourself."

"Your fast and loose ways will most certainly bring destruction to us all if unchecked. Remember that Hlarm Meg, it is essential if you are ever to rule on your world successfully. You are much too rash, and leave too much too chance, while focusing your energy on trivial details."

Hlarn barks out a laugh. "This coming from the one who got herself killed by being fast and loose herself! And my attention to the details is one reason I've survived this long."

"Oh, and Kaliar, I found this new fellow, who's looking for a map and a knife for me, his name is Malvis and he is a beginning illusionist. I thought that you might be able to help him out. And that stud of a man is Dor D'Och, recently of the Baron's service, who seems to have attracted Roganna's attention."

"Greeting, Dor D'Och. I am Kadlian Lun'Folard, leader of this group."

"At your service," Dor responds with a smile.

Kadlian nods. "So, what are your talents?"

"I like to fight, with weapons or without," Dor replies happily.

Kadlian looks at the man again. "I expected more than a fighter. A cavalier, perhaps?"

"Well, I like to drink," Dor replies.

"Do you think as well?" the mage asks

"As hard as I can," Dor responds.

"Then there is hope for you yet, Dor D'Och, recently of the Barons service."

"Bravo, Dor," Logan says as he claps his hands together, "that was the funniest thing I heard today ! Glad I was not drinking anything, would have come right out my nose! Beauty, damn woman, your standards are goin' WAY down - oooh, girl!"

The mage starts chanting in a little girls voice, "Kad, Kad he's our elf, if he can't do it, Sian can!"

Roganna laughs again, looking genuinely cheered for once. "Indeed, quite true little one.

"So, what's the scoop?" Roganna asks. She then thinks better of her question and decides to listen for a bit as the story unfolds ...

"Oh, leader sir. Your tall green headed friends with the terrible bark have headed out of the city," the woman continues.

"Thank you. I will talk to them after we finish here. Do you know which way they headed?"

The mage snaps a smart salute directed at Kadlian. "On the good ship, lollipop, there's a sweet trip to the candy shop. Where bonbons play."

Kadlian just sighs. "Sian, did you see which way they went?"

"Sigh no more ladies, sigh no more. Men were decievers, ever. One foot on sea and one on shore, to one thing constant, never. So sigh not so, but let them go and be ye bligh and bonnie, converting all your sounds of woe to hey nonnie nonnie," Rage replies

Looking at Kadlian, Rage adds, "Come on, spill the beans, don't take all day."

"While you folks were waiting, I do not suppose that someone looked to the wounded? I could use some healing."

"Medic, medic," the mage says in a different voice. "Where does it hurt?"

"Pretty much all over."

"Where doesn't it hurt?" the mage asks with concern in her voice.

"The big toe on my right foot."

Hlarn nods to Rage. "Glad to see you are on your feet."

Rage looks at Hlarn. "Actually, I am sitting down right now. And I need a bath, and some clean clothing. And I have to get spell books for Argulhas and Logan here."

He bows to the others and gives a questioning look at Rage, "Are these folks thinking of joining our fine party? If so they may stay, but if not I think what we are about to discuss should exclude them. Where are the others?"

"Malvis is already in my hire, so to speak, and Dor D'Och, recently of the Baron's service seems to have taken a liking to Roganna, so I'm inclined to keep him. Can we Kadlian? We'll feed him, and potty train him, and everything. He'll be great..." the mage says, looking at the elf.

Dor grins broadly. "You can start by getting me another beer."

Rage looks at Dor D'Och, recently of the Barons service. "Did they not teach you manners in the Baron's guard?"

Dor gazes intently at the ceiling a moment before replying. "No, that was not part of the training. There was weapons training, on foot and on horse. There was drill and guard duty. There was marching. And of course, the occasional battle." With the last his eyes light up. "That part was the most fun."

"This much I feared," the woman says. "When talking to young girls, it is best to try to ask as you would expect them to ask. A please would have gotten results and not a lecture from me."

Once that business is done, Hlarn turns back to Rage. "How do you feel? And more importantly, how soon till you can be ready to cast spells again? We will be forced to leave Sandas in two days."

"And who is forcing me to leave in two days? I just got here."

Hlarn nods. "No one will be forcing you of course, but our business is not yet finished."

"I'd sooner kiss a wookie," the mage says.

The dwarf puts his fingers to his lips before you can speak though and whispers. "What needs discussing is not for all to hear so watch what you say."

"Say what? I can't hear you with all this whispering. Did you say that the Wanda is a herring? Speak up."

The dwarf sees about renting a private room where you can discuss matters in private.

Soon you find yourselves in the private room where you dined with Yuri two years - and many lifetimes - ago.

"I hope none of you have already been discussing the matter. The fewer people who know of our actions the less trouble might result."

"Define discussing the matter. What matter? What's a matter you... why you feel so sad.. it's a not so bad... it's a nice-a place... Ah shutta up you face."

Hlarn continues.

"We've got to catch up with Zanax. Despite what he might have told Beauty, Zanax has no intentions of returning here with the Scepter. He's on his way to Hork to turn it over to his church there. What they intend to do with it is a mystery yet."

"It is as if an iron curtain has descended between Sandas and Hork. I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

The dwarf continues. "Apparently his diety believes Verona will bring ruin upon Sandas by possessing the thing. That may be true, but not in the manner Zanax probably fears. Ray Jay thinks that Verona won't be able to use the thing, but that it will cause trouble in other ways. As we found out, it is a powerful symbol of the old Empire. The more people find out that it is out in the open, the more people will act. Some will see it as a sign that the Empire will come again. Others will do anything to prevent that from happening. Thus it matters not if Verona uses it. Its presence itself causes trouble."

"What, exactly, did Ray Jay tell you? I want the exact words. It could be important."

"I do not possess eidetic memory, and our conversation covered many topics. I'll try and recall what was stated.

"One is that the Scepter is one of the symbols of the Saltar Empire. It was hidden by the Wizards when that empire fell. Legend holds that when they are found, a new Empire will be born from the ashes of the old. Now that the Scepter is loose, it will serve as a symbol to many people. Some will fight for the hope of a world spanning Empire, others will do anything to prevent that as they see such as a corrupt entity. Kadlian had wished we had not found the thing, but Ray Jay thinks it is fate that these things come about. In any case it will appear that we live in interesting times, with them about to get even more so.

"As you know, Ray Jay approved of our quest. Since then the archmage has been researching the matter further as well. Ray Jay believes Verona will not be able to wield it... no mortal hand can. He trusts Verona completely and has told her this, but likely she still thinks she can make use of the item. Why she can't use it I don't understand exactly, perhaps you might. It has something to do with it being linked to the Rhior power, which from what I understand is now gone from the world. In any case, Verona hoped to use it in defending Nlad against the invading Mestrom army."

Rage looks concerned. "The Rhior power. This is bad." the mage says with a deep frown. "Tomorrow I will be in the guild all day, I have much to do." The mage looks at Logan and Argulhas. "Since we have 2 days before Ray Jay will teleport us, you to will spend tomorrow making traveling spell books of the most important spells we have. You will copy as much as you can, as quickly and neatly as you can."

Hlarn nods. "What of my question about detecting invisibility for long periods of time? Without it we have no chance of finding Zanax and we should waste no time in seeing if the dragon will help us. I do not think he will simply meet with us, as I asked him several times to stop and discuss the matter peacefully."

Rage nods. "That is part of my research plan. I have no spell to do this and do not know of a spell that would do this. I have spent, however, little time investigating detection spells. The crystal ball might serve to assist us, however."

"We also spoke about the limitations of teleports to the south. All the archmages are aware of this, but have been forbidden by the King to research how this might have been accomplished. All they know is that it is something beyond mortal magics. Perhaps a Wizard spell, or perhaps an Avatar of the Gods would be my guess, but I'm not mage of course. It seems foolish to me to not try and understand how this happened. Indeed, it seems that Nlad is intent on losing the war because no mages are being engaged against Mestrom. As we know, Mestrom is not likewise constrained."

The mage blinks and speaks in a deep, monotone voice, an eerie tone that none of you have ever heard before.

"Jade plate, six eight.

Fire that burns hot,

light that is not.

Fire that burns cold,

first silver, then gold."

The mage blinks twice and looks at Hlarn. "No mages? Does the compact exist in this location?"

Hlarn shrugs. "Perhaps you could find out?"

"You keep shrugging a lot, are your shoulders hurting?"

The dwarf laughs as he realizes it. "Its a habit I guess I'll have to break."

"I can help.' the mage says, "With my new patented electro-zap collar. Just wear it and every time you shrug, I'll zap you."

"Ray Jay told us directly that he will not use a Wish spell to help us in any way. Too many Higher Powers are involved, and such magics would only cause more conflict. We might want to keep that in mind if we come across such a magic as well."

"Agreed. There is much at stake here. If wishes were fishes, we could feed the world.

"We've got trouble, right here in river city, trouble with a capital T and that rhymes with S and that stands for Scepter. We surely got trouble," the little girls voice chimes out. "Crazy bus, crazy bus. What's a basalooie?"

The dwarf continues. "My guess is that Zanax's diety wants to hide the thing away again. But even that won't solve any problems. Mestrom is certain to find the script in the Keep of the Dead and begin hunting for the other two pieces as well. Ray Jay thinks its a good idea for us to do the same. They will come out of hiding it seems certain, but in who's hands they are revealed is the question."

"One and one and one is three," the mage says.

The dwarf sighs. "I trust Ray Jay. She was adamant about not wanting the Scepter for herself, and offered two neutral possibilities to whom we could deliver it to. I'm willing to consider either. I might even consider letting Zanax give the device to his own diety - but not until he comes clean with his motives. Giving such an artifact to one who is not honest with us is out of the question."

"Is Switzerland one of the neutral parties?" the mage asks. "It is clear as is the summer sun, there is no bar to make in the claim to the throne of France."

"Now then, we have much to do and little time to do it in. If Ray Jay will teleport us, when can it be done. If we arrive in Hork now, we can begin to establish ourselves and plan a proper course of action."

"Agreed. We have a few questions to answer. When can we leave for Hork? And does it make sense for Kailar and I to set out after Zanax to track him to make sure he actually goes to Hork and not somewhere else? Do we have a way to keep in touch between both groups?"

"I think that is it for now."

"No!" the mage says forcefully. "We do not separate the group again. We have run into to much trouble and there is strength in numbers.

"We leave together, and in the morning. Logan, Arugulhas, you will have to continue to work with my books. We will pick up more components in the morning, and some traveling books so that on the road you can copy some of the spells. It will be slower in the copying, but we have little time to spare."

"Ray Jay will teleport us to Hork. It is a city, so anything you need can also be found there. Plus, we should be days ahead of Zanax. I only worry that he will turn off somewhere. Perhaps we should go to Hork and then backtrack towards him?"

"How do we know that he is really heading to Hork?"

Hlarn shakes his head. "We don't. He lied to us before, so that might be a lie as well. But I plan on asking Silverbeard that very question."

"One, why do you say Zanax lied? As far as I can tell he never lied, and played his cards close to his chest. As for asking Silverbeard, that might not be a good idea if there is such interest from the higher powers."

"A lie of omission is still a lie in my book."

Roganna sighs. "Oh geez. Guess I'll have a lot to confess to, then."

"Very interesting," the mage says, "How is it a lie? The fact that Zanax did not share his personal feeling with you makes it a lie? Thus, by your logic, I have been lying for all the time I have known you, for I did not reveal the details of the system."

"Personal feelings?" Hlarn says with a bitter laugh. "I had thought you were smarter than that. We're not talking about what one might secretly think about each other or ourselves. We are talking about a direct betrayal."

"Again, how did he betray us?" the mage asks. "Who did he betray? What promise did he make to Verona? Answer me that."

"He betrayed us by taking the Sceptre that we all risked our lives for. He gave no indication that he did not want to give it to Verona.

"However, the signs were there and I missed them. When he told us that Votishal did not want the Sceptre to fall into the wrong hands, I asked him which hands those were. And could we return the Sceptre to Verona as promised. He never answered me.

"Come to think of it, Rage, you said the same thing, pretty much. Although at an earlier time you reminded us that you had made the same promise as I did. To return it to Verona.

"Then, just before we fought the ice devils, Zanax again asked me what we were going to do with the Sceptre. I just assumed he was getting forgetful. Which was Hlarn's take on it as well. And I also asked him point blank whether or not Votishal objected to our mission. His answer was that Votishal knew we were intending to give the Sceptre to Verona, but that Votishal had not fully disclosed his plans to Zanax.

"When I asked why he was concerned about giving the Sceptre to Verona, Zanax said that he was concerned about any mortal wielding such an object of power. But, he never let on that he
would take it as he did.

"It seems to me that we gave Zanax plenty of opportunity to tell us his intentions. It may be that until we recovered it, Votishal had not given Zanax orders. But, how could he take it, understanding the promise that I and Rage had made to Verona?"

"I would say accepting her money counts as a promise." Hlarn replies. "Each of us were paid 5000 gold. You included. If any in the party had reservations, they should not have accepted the money. And I consider his actions a betrayal to me personally. The how was in keeping important information from the party that effected us all, and then acting on his own without even discussing such."

"As an intellectual exercise, let me ask this, what is more important? A contract or doing what is right? We didn't have all the facts, nor did we even look for them. Shame on us. But once our eyes were opened, what good is a contract that will is essentially wrong based on the information we have? Are me mindless fighters and gophers or are we heroes who can think?" Roganna asks.

Hlarn shakes his head. "I have never said that the contract is more important than doing what is right. But until Zanax told me of his concerns, the argument was always 'which is more important, the contract or keeping the device for ourselves for our own benefit'. To that last question I could only say the contract was more important. I did not have any information to think otherwise.

"I know I would rather be the thinking one...despite the deep respect I have for contracts in general."

Rage laughs. "How naive are you Hlarn? We all have secrets and hidden agendas. At the moment it is in our own best interests to stay together. I, for one, would not hesitate to leave if my interests are no longer served by being a member of this group." the mage says, "Zanax asked you specifically at one point if you felt bound by his obligations to his patron? That question still holds. Are you bound by his obligations? What about mine? Are you bound by them? Zanax acted for what he considered the higher good, and while you may not agree with that, he acted in the best faith he could, his own."

Hlarn replies, "When those obligations interact with those of our group, yes I feel obligated. You died. I considered it my obligation to see that you were brought back to life, and the same held for Kadlian."

She points a finger at Hlarn. "Never, for a minute expect others to do what they will for 'you' becuase it is altrustic and sacrificing. Expect them to do what they consider in their best interest, for that is what you should do to."

"We already had this discussion. I find it a sad commentary that others put their own interests before those of their friends."

"Really? Are you trying to say that I should put your interests before my own? Why on earth would I do that? What does that say about my sense of life and my own self-esteem. Just how many people have a claim to my actions? Being alive means that we should be very interested in keeping ourselves that way, that our interests natually come first...what good would I be to anyone dead? Does that mean I forsake my friends, no -- though often people think it does. However, I don't run my life by committee ... making sure my every action serves others before it serves myself. I would hate to think that your actions are based on concern for my interests .. I find the thought repugnant to say the least!" Roganna says with real concern in her eyes. "Please don't burden me in that way, and please do take responsibility for your own actions. Don't act on my interests, I'll be taking care of that. If you need help that is one thing, and I will do all in my power to help in some specific situation, but don't live to serve other people's interests. That is very unhealthy."

"Why? Why is it sad to put our own interests before those of others? Am I to give my life to save someone who I do not know? Should I give away for free all the gold I have worked, and ye, died for to someone becuase they 'need' it?" the mage asks. "I have the right to choose what I do with my life. If I feel that giving my life to save you is a greater good for me then I will do it. Do not expect me to do something just becuase you are my friend. I will do a great deal, when my value system indicates that it is in my best interest to do so. I do not give my gold away to others who have not earned it becuase they need it. To do so would be a sacrifice, to exchange a higher ideal for a lower one. This is an important philosophical point that I will discuss with you in greater detail later, when my mind is less cluttered."

Rage stares at Hlarn for a moment. "You were all so headstrong into rushing the thing to Verona without thinking and considering the consequences of that action. There was information in our hands and it needed to be further examined before making the ultimate decision as to what to do with the item. He did not betray you, or anyone else for that matter. He did what I know I would have done, prevented giving the item to Verona without considering the consequences. Your discussion with Ray Jay should have illumiunated you further, but I see it did not.

"What consequences? We talked about this a few different times. Beyond Zanax's warning of destruction, which he would not give any details on and your statement that you wanted to study the Sceptre, no one else had any reservations. We had dismissed those claims about Verona being a servant of the Raven goddess. Hlarn, Kailar and I talked to Ray Jay about that and he dismissed those claims. He has complete trust in Verona."

"Now, the question is what we do about Zanax. Ray Jay does not think we should let the Sceptre fall into Votishal's hands and I agree. And I am quite convinced that it should not go to Verona, either. Ray Jay does not want it."

"So, I guess it is time to ask what the rest of you think. So, please, give me your views on this matter."

In the midst of memorization, Logan takes a break. "Ace of hearts, two of clubs, alright, I say we hunt him down and give him an opportunity to explain. If he doesn't, we kill him, simple. We risk our necks and then he takes off, that is a betrayal that I can not live by. Had I the opportunity I would leave now, but I am a team player now as well as in Rage's good grace for the moment, so don't want to mess with that."

"You're fired," Roganna says, looking at Logan directly. She turns to face the rest of the party. "As you know, I had hired Logan to protect me way back when. Today, I publically state that I retract that contract completely." She turns back to Logan, "Your obligation to me is ended as is mine to you."

"Thank the gods for that small favor!" Logan replies, "You are almost as bad as Rage. Or is it ALL women who have multiple personalities?" he asks no one in particular.

Rage frowns at Logan.

"There will be no killing of Zanax, or I will avenge him, quickly," the mage says, her tone firm and serious. "It seems we have major disagreement as to what Zanax did, and if it was a betrayal or not. I say not.

"As for my good graces, you need to learn patience first," the mage says.

"Four of diamonds, jack of spades,..." he continues his memorization.

Hlarn says, "No, no permanent harm will come to Zanax under any circumstances, even if he chooses to fight to the death to keep the artifact. We will take the scepter away from him, and then we discuss matters on what to best do with it while including Zanax in those discussions. That is my opinion. As I said to Ray Jay, we might end up entrusting it to Voshital after all, but only after careful deliberation and consulting with an actual priest of that order who can answer questions on why he does not trust Verona."

Roganna nods. "That at least I agree with completely. You have come to the correct conclusion, even if the path was a bit wayward."

Hlarn shakes his head. "Awkward? That was my conclusion the moment I ran off after him. To stop him and ask what the hell he was doing."

"With all you hotheads here, I sense he will not get a fair hearing," the mage says. "As for a priest of Voshital that can wait till we get to Hork."

"Hot heads? Other than Logan, I do not hear anyone else suggesting that Zanax be harmed for what has occurred. But, I do believe we are owed an explanation. As well as a say in who will be the caretaker of the artifact."

"Take too long, let me summarize," the woman says, "Able was I ere I saw Elba. It is a palindrome, but I do not understand how that is a summary. A man, a plan, a canal, Panama."

"Thanks."

"Fine, let him live, but to allow him to stay in our group after his blatant disregard for all of our lives, would be a bad thing!" Logan growls as he misses a card and starts over.

"Zanax has been here long than you, Logan. He has not disregarded out lives. He has done what needed to be done, to provoke some action and prevent what could have been a major mistake," Rage says. "If Zanax wishes to stay with us, I see no reason not to allow him."

"So, you dismiss the premise that he could have told us what Votishal had told him and that we could have made some other decision than to give it to Verona? Then, you do not really know many of us."

Roganna stares at Kadlian in disbelief. "Excuse me, but Zanax quite clearly told us that Votishall didn't want Verona to have the thing. Did you have a head injury I didn't tend to?"

Hlarn laughs. "Now who has selective memory? Zanax clearly told us he did not think he was bound by Kadlian's promise to return it, and left it at that. Never did he mention that Voshital did not want Verona to have it. To me that implies he wanted it for himself."

"Actually, he said that giving the Sceptre to the wrong hands would cause destruction and ruin. And he said that Votishal was aware of the plan to give it to Verona. I asked him, point blank, if we should not give it to Verona. Zanax never answered."

"I have considered that premise, and it is clear he was under orders not to inform us of his plan or his actions. Therefore, he acted in his best interest, and put his needs ahead of ours, as he should have. His actions clearly speak to the premise you raise."

"So, then, why is it not in my best interest to take the Sceptre from him? Has Zanax's self-interest been elevated above any of ours in your eyes?"

"No one said Zanax's self-interest has been anything of the sort, why are you seeing it that way?" Roganna asks in surprise. "We have no idea what your interests are, hopefully you want to do what is morally right and something that takes into consideration the facts and use reason to determine the correct course of action. It isn't a matter of elevating someones 'self-interest' over another. It is a matter of being rational. What do we know about this thing? Have we determined all the consequences of the various courses of action? Have we fully researched from reliable sources what we are dealing with and what effects it will have? What are our respective goals in all this? These are the questions that determine our course of action. I suspect we agree on certain principles. We want to keep this world a nice place to live freely. We would most likely not want to be pawns of some higher powers, except if you are a cleric, I guess...and so on. We each need to know what we are doing and why. Our choices are not determined by any needs but our own, nor are they determined or chosen at the expense of anyone else. I hope you all realize that," Roganna says slowly, pensively.

"One, we know very little about this thing. No one, including Ray Jay and King Goldhime, believed this to be the real Sceptre of the Gods. Only Verona did and she did not know what it was. And without being able to tell the future, which is essentially what Votishal did for Zanax, I do not know how to determine the consequences of giving it to Verona or any other person."

"We were hired to retrieve the Sceptre of the Gods for Verona so that she could go South and help in the war effort against Mestom. Since the Sceptre can heal and resurrect, she wants to go down there to keep the Nlad side of the conflict in good health. That is her motive, entirely."

"Now, since we did not know that the Sceptre we recovered was really the Sceptre of the Gods ahead of time, we had no reason to believe we were doing anything dangerous by handing it over to Verona. Frankly, had we had the months of travel back to Nlad by the way we came, it is likely we would have had a chance to re-hash out any concerns about who got the Sceptre. Since everything happened so quickly and Zanax ran off with the Sceptre, no detailed examination was possible."

"That is for you to decide. Ask youself, what is your best interest," the mage says. "I have not elevated anyone's self-interest about anyone elses. I know what mine is, and you need to ask what your's is. If you feel that your best interest is served by taking the Scepter from Zanax, that is your decision, and others will follow you as they see fit."

"My best interest is served by understanding everything that Zanax knows about this issue and understanding why Votishal is a better choice than others. I do not feel, at this point, that Votishal or his followers will not use the Sceptre to bring a different kind of ruin."

"I quite agree. Now let's act on that. How do we find out more, where do we find out more?"

Hlarn looks up. "I suggest we find Leslie, and see if she still has Forbor with her. He lived during that time in the service of the Wizards as one of their military leaders. He might know something of relevance and perhaps saw the devices actually used in battle."

"That is a really good idea...I kind of forgot about him," says Sian.

"Zanax is but one source of information. There has to be more. This is a mighty artifact, it has a history. There are prohecies about it. Let's seriously investigate, even if that means we hang on to the thing for a while. Let's not be hasty in turning it over to anyone...no matter how well intentioned they might seem."

Hlarn nods. "I think I agree with you. But as Kadlian said, we can't very well keep the device with us while searching for the others. But we do have plenty of time before that happens. I'll need to train for one thing. So perhaps Kadlian can again speak with his king, and the mages can search the deepest archives. I'll ask the dwarves what they know of its history as well."

"We have to see what the thing does, how it interacts with the other pieces, which means getting the other pieces if only to negate the threat of others getting them first, and we need to know the intentions of those that want it. We can guess that Verona wants it to stop the threat from Meston, but I think we all know that is probably foolhardy as supposedly no mortal can wield the thing. It is stupid to try. The mark of a desperate person, a person not to be trusted."

Hlarn laughs. "I trust Verona. Remember that Rage herself thought she could wield the thing too. Of course that was before she knew more of its history. We don't know what Verona knows exactly, and Ray Jay's guesses that Verona couldn't wield it were just that, guesses. Perhaps Verona knows the secret to activating the device. Perhaps she is working with her diety directly to power it. I'm certain the gods could make use of the thing if they desired."

"Okay then. What of Votishal then? On the surface, he wants to keep it from Verona's foolhardiness, but what else? We must find out. The list goes on and on. I hope that Rage will be able to discover what we need to know. But we must all continue to ask questions and research. Information might turn up anywhere...even in the most unlikely places," Roganna says.

Hlarn nods. "On that I agree with you. But we must be careful how we ask as well. I don't think it wise that everyone knows this scepter is now at large in the world."

Dor's eyes appear to have glazed over. Suddenly a smile brightens his face.

"I'm getting a beer. Anyone want one?" he asks.

Hlarn looks up. "I suggest we find Leslie, and see if she still has Forbor with her. He lived during that time in the service of the Wizards as one of their military leaders. He might know something of relevance and perhaps saw the devices actually used in battle."

"The only place would be the Mage's guild. I do not have access to such a place. And keeping the Sceptre while going after the other artifacts might not be a good idea. We need some place to safely store it."

"Blatant disregard for all our lives? How so?"

"As a group we battle insurmountable odds, barely escape with our lives and then when we arrive back to a haven of safety, he absconds with our 'prize' like a thief in the night. Alright, it may not be a blatant disregard, but I am pissed. DAMMIT, I lost my place again." Logan then slaps himself in the forehead. "I am almost done, Rage."

He recounts the cards and says, "I may be a loner, but I have learned to be a team player and it burns my ass that Zanax just up and left. Basically, if he can do that, he can't be trusted. That is why he is a liability and has the obvious ability to put all of us at risk if our actions do not match his and while yes, that may be for everyone here, at least no one else has shown it yet!" Logan says with a nod of his head as he re-memorizing the cards. A few seconds later he says, "Alright Rage, I am done !"

"No you are not. You have just begun, but for tonight, it seems your temper is getting the best of you," the mage says. "And you have no understanding of the word trust, not any of you here...all of you have lived your normal peaceful lives, in your training and armies and what not, you know nothing of trust, for it has never, truly been torn from you."

"You know Rage, I am getting sick of your high and mighty attitude. The fact is that none of us really know any of each other enough to make statements like that. We do not know what you went through growing up and you do not know what any of us went through growing up. So, please stop making such insulting statements, okay?"

Roganna raises her brows in surprise. "Well, well, well. What have we here? What was insulting about her comments? Even if they were insulting, I would think you would give a recently dead person a little bit of slack. It isn't everyday you die...and frankly, I am very disappointed in your reaction."

"That none of us know anything of trust. And as far as being dead goes, I do not know why that should be a reason for cutting someone slack."

Roganna laughs. "Okay then, what is your excuse then? A hangnail? What does it take to get a bit of understanding around here? Death is a pretty serious issue, except for those that don't value their lives."

"What do you mean? I am not asking anyone to cut me slack, nor is that occurring. And what kind of understanding do you want? Frankly, I am trying to understand everyone's position and I am getting a lot of flack for it.

"As far as being dead, a number of us have died before. Some of us multiple times. What of it?"

"High and mighty attitude?" the mage says and laughs. "I'm a little teapot short and stout, here is my handle, here is my spout, when you heat me up, here me shout. Just tip me over and pour me out."

Kadlian sighs. "I frankly do not know how to deal with a person who can have different people come to the fore in different situations."

"So, what you are trying to say is that he broke trust with us."

"YES !" Logan yells at Kadlian. "He used us ! Like I said, we all have it in us, but he acted on it, I have had too many people who I have taken to trust, betray me. Once betrayed, they don't breathe too much longer. I am a loner, because I trust few people. I THOUGHT I was able to trust some or all of you, I see my judgement is still faulty!"

"The door is over there Logan, do not let it hit you on the ass on the way out," the mage says, standing up. "And while you are leaving, I suggest you check your premise, for it is faulty, although you are to pig headed to recognize it."

She turns to address the group. "It is clear that none of you are thinking clearly. It seems you have some very screwed up notions as to what has happened and what Zanax has done. Not a single one of you have thought or considered what was done, you are all so quick to judge, just like everyone one else I have ever known. Perhaps I should let Rage out and she can discuss this matter with you further, I am sure she has many interesting points to raise."

"Then explain to us, in your own view, what has occurred. Use small words so that we all understand, since that is obviously the point you are driving at. It is interesting to note, however, that you know what occurred considering you were dead at the time," points out Kadlian.

"What I know is that Zanax is gone, has taken the scepter and from what was just said, is flying to Hork to give it to his temple there. It seems that is what is being disucssed. Other information is from conversatiosn we had earlier on, before the body was killed. And from personal discussions I have had with Zanax and others," the mage says.

"However," the mage says, taking a deep breath, "I will not do that, since I do happen to like this inn. Instead I will be taking a bath and then considering my next course of action. Sian, I would like to speak with you later, you too, Roganna. If Malvis returns, please thank him for me. As for the rest of you, at the moment, you an all go to hell for all I care."

"Damn, must be my aftershave.. I always have this effect on her!" Logan says as he puts his head on his folded arms on the table.

Roganna laughs. "Sure thing Rage. I'll wait until after Zanax contacts me, though. See you later."

"I see. So, instead of explaining your position, you choose to go off in a snit. Very useful, Rage. And typical of your discussion tactics, unfortunately. Since you obviously feel you have information that the rest of us do not, instead of sharing it, you are going to hide it from those of us not considered worthy."

Rage turns on her heels, "Excuse me? Do you really like playing with fire that much Kadlian, for you will get burned sooner or later. It is clear that my position is to go after Zanax, I have been saying as much from the get go, or were you not listening? I proposed that Sian, Roganna and myself be the ones to meet him and discuss issues with him. Having the whole group there would clearly put him on the defensive, and with Logan there threatening him, I think that would be bad. I suggest the rest of you, while in Hork, do some research and try to find his Temple so that we can get to meet a priest of Voshital and discuss issues with him."

"If I must play with fire, I must. And you have had so many positions, lately, it is hard to know which one is the current one.

"No, actually you said we should not split the group. And now, apparently, you have changed your mind. I do not know why he should feel he is on the defensive any more with all of us than just you three. Unless there is something about the relationship of you four that I do not understand. I have counted Zanax a friend for a long time now."

"Huh? Split up? We are all going to Hork...based on whatever information we have. I thought that was clear. Once in Hork, we each do what we are best at...as we usually do. Did I miss something?" Roganna asks.

"Yes, Rage is apparently saying that you, Sian and she will go after Zanax to talk with him, leaving the rest of us in Hork. How is that not splitting up the group? Especially when I had suggested that Kailar and I follow him from behind while the rest of you get in front of him and that was termed splitting the group.

"Logan, I am mad at Zanax and hurt that he would do such a thing, but losing your temper is not going to help matters."

"Thanks, boss, but this is not me losing my temper. This is just showing my displeasure. When we find the thieving bastard, then you'll see me lose my temper!" Logan says with a wicked grin.

"And if you try, you will see my temper, and I suspect you do not want to see that." the mage says evenly. "No one harms Zanax, or they answer to me."

"He fooled us all, for I do not think that any of us expected this from Zanax. Now, I have only heard from Logan and Hlarn. How do the rest of you feel?"

"I feel that so far, Zanax is the only one with even half a brain around here. No offense of course. I've said how I feel. He saw something wrong with the situation, used his noggin and perhaps we are overreacting because we feel foolish ... and we were. I don't think this group would have been very receptive to any other plan but to return the damned thing to Verona anyway. Another problem is clerics in general. They always have a higher duty, a higher power to answer to. I think that from now on, we should have no more clerics in the party. You can't trust them because they are only agents of higher powers. Very dangerous, as we are experiencing. Of course, that means we need other means of healing since that is the only useful service clerics can do that doesn't endanger us," Roganna says, quite seriously.

"So, you should not be in the party, then. Neither should Hlarn or Umboth or any of Sian's other clerical followers."

"That depends. I am not in charge of this party. If I was, I would certainly exclude clerics exactly because they are merely puppets of higher powers. I no longer have such a handicap," Roganna says quietly. "It is always a risk you run when there are clerics in the house. Often, it is wise to accept that risk -- but you always have to keep the knowledge in the back of your head that clerics are dangerous when it comes to this type of situation. I think we have evidence of that quite clearly... "

Kadlian snorts. "And you still believe I am in charge of this party? If that is so, why am I discussing anything with any of you? Why am I not simply giving orders and watching you carry them out? I am just a consensus builder.

"And what do you mean, you no longer have such a handicap. Are you no longer a cleric?"

"C'mon people, pipe up, we don't have all day here!" Logan chuckles as he awaits Rage's next lesson.

"You know my mind," the mage says, "But you do not accept it."

"Frankly, I do not know your mind. I know you do not agree with us, but you have not seen fit to explain your position to the point where anyone can understand it."

"The name is mouse, not Frankly, and I don't know what you are talking about, sir," the woman says, "I just like it quiet, and it's really noisy here, and you are mad at us, are you going to beat us now?" the mage says, in a small voice, a tear coming to the woman's eye.

"No, Mouse, I have no intention of striking you. That is not how I resolve arguments if I have any choice."

"Are you sure? Everyone else did," the woman says, eyeing Kadlian.

"I have never struck you, nor will I start now."

"Oh," the woman says, chewing her lip as she considers this statement. "OK. I'll go then, ok?"

"If you believe this conversation to be over, I will not stop you."

Hlarn clasps his hand to Logan in understanding. "I feel betrayed as well, but let us at least see what Zanax has to say before we decide anything. I'm willing to be forgiving to a friend acting as he thought best even thought it was against the wishes of the group...at least once."

"You are a better man than I, as he should have explained himself BEFORE hand, now, he is no legs to stand on, or won't once I am done with him!" Logan replies, cracking his knuckles with his arms outstretched.

Roganna smiles, her eyes hard. "Well, you won't be picking on him long, Logan. You will have to fight me too. You are being totally ridiculous."

"I won't hurt him, I am realizing that despite the 'party' mentality, everyone is just going for their own interests without even the courtesy of talking to others," Logan says from his head lying on the table, obviously weary of this pointless conversation.

Hlarn laughs. "Twice while in Mestrom we tried to discuss the 'consequences' of this artifact. Both times he kept his agenda to himself, indicating only that he did not think himself bound by any oath of Kadlian's to return the item. Had he been straight with us, this would not have happened."

"And what would have happened instead?"

"We would have had a party discussion with the Sceptre and Zanax present. We probably would have ended up going to Ray Jay for advice and then come back here for more private discussions. In the end, who can tell what would have happened? At least, we would have had a discussion. Now, it would seem we have a chase."

"Hmmm...I think we had ample opportunity to do as you think we would have, but we didn't. We argued about contracts and obligations, never once questioning our misison, even though it did come up. Selective memory is a very dangerous thing," Roganna says quitely.

"Zanax never argued that he thought Verona was unfit to have the device. If anyone did, then I suppose I do have selective memory because I do not recall it. Always the argument was in the context that he did not think himself bound by Kadlian's promise and could thus keep the scepter for himself if he wished. THAT was what I thought was wrong, as we were hired and paid for this contract. And that is something entirely different from being hired for something and finding out the motives of our employer are false."

"As to sacrifice, we all agreed to this mission, knowing we could die. To hold others responsible and blaming them for our free choice is disgusting," Roganna says, her eyes hard now.

"As you said, we all agreed to this mission," Hlarn says. "To betray that agreement and your companions is what I consider 'disgusting'."

"And you would have been honor bound to return the scepter to Verona. I know that someone inside make such a promise as well, but after that promise, there was additional information that has not been fully evaluated. What Zanax did has forced us to consider what that information means and that is what I intend to do tomorrow at the guild."

"Actually, if we decided not to turn the Sceptre over to Verona, I would return the money with interest and apologize."

"We would have investigated his fears about Verona, and planned on doing what we are about to do in any case, deliver the Scepter as a group to the party the group thought appropriate. By taking the Scepter for his own, he throws away the sacrifices made by everyone here to obtain it. Several of our party died for this object. It was not his to do with as he pleased."

"Really?" the mage says, raising an eyebrow.

"You might also ask Silverbeard if letting Zanax give the scepter to the temple of Votishal would be a bad thing. While Ray Jay thinks it should be given to a neutral party, it might actually be safest to leave it with Votishal's temple. Without any of the other artifacts, it seems like it would not be useful."

"I have never been to Hork." the mage says. Snapping her fingers she says, "There is a small problem. A minor matter, that I need to consider a bit, with this plan and Ray Jay."

"I thought you could not talk with him until you were ready to become an arch-mage. And Ray Jay agreed to teleport us whenever we are ready."

"Therein lies the problem." the mage says, "I must consider what and consult with others as to what I can do in this situation."

Hlarn shakes his head. "He's invisible, that is our primary concern."

The dwarf turns toward Rage and Kailar. "Can either of you penetrate that and scry for him? And do either of you have a long duration method of detecting invisibility? If we can only view him for a few moments at a time then our chances of finding him are almost impossible."

Hlarn snaps his fingers. "Kailar! Do you think you could convince the copper dragon in the Black Keep to help us? Tell him we would reward him handsomely in gold. He can see invisible people and objects. A couple of us flying the route to Hork on his back would certainly find him quickly and certainly."

"Hlarn why don't you settle down just a wee bit? The last time we had the group separated we lost big time. I am not for that."

Hlarn looks up. "Just to ease everyone's minds, we are not going to fight a battle so the worries about separation are not as relevant if we have some means of communication."

"Indeed? And you have some assurance that we won't end up in battle? I would never make such an assumption, especially in the situation we are currently in," Roganna says quietly.

"Other than Logan, who is talking about violence?"

Roganna laughs and shrugs. "Oh, I don't know .. armies here and there, various people interested in certain artifacts...thugs, thieves, bandits, monsters, and so on.It is a violent world, and to promise no battle when we are working with this whole issue that has gods on various sides involved is rather naive .."

Hlarn nods. "I ment only that we were not going to fight Zanax. The possibility of someone trying to take the Scepter from him and we have to chase them in turn is always a possibility."

"We will defend ourselves as is appropriate, but I am not going to look for a fight."

Dor's smile slips a bit at this news.

"Don't worry, there will be plenty of fights in the future," the dwarf says with a grin.

"We are simply going to catch Zanax and stop him from his current quest. Once we have the Scepter in our possession again, we will discuss what should be done with it rationally as we were doing when this mess started. As we have seen, simply wishing the matter was done with doesn't solve any problems. In any case we should be safe enough for the time being. It is Zanax who is in danger now, and not from us."

"I think you remember a different version of reality, and you are now trying to completely rebuild events to suit your own frame of mind. Let me point out that we never did rationally discuss anything regarding the sceptre except to say that we were obligated to return it to Verona because we had a contract. It seems that no one was interested in questioning Verona more closely at the time we accepted the mission, nor have we questioned much since we accepted the assignment. We have all pretty blindly gone forward without stopping to consider the larger issues at hand," Roganna says softly, her eyes remote and her manner strangely calm and at peace for once.

Hlarn nods. "I'm not forgetting anything. Until Zanax betrayed us we had no real reason to doubt Verona or our contract. She never lied to us. She told us exactly what the object did. She has gone to great lengths to help us in the past and is closely allied with our sponsor Ray Jay. There was no reason to NOT fulfull the contract as far as I was concerned at the time. Zanax was the sole person in possession of knowlege that gave us any pause in our mission, and he kept it from us at the point when we needed it most."

"And why should we have questioned her more closely? The matter of her being an agent of the raven goddess was closed. Zanax got information through his deity that the rest of us did not have access to and he did not share that information to the point of saying that giving it to Verona was bad."

"Well, why shouldn't we have? Everyone has an angle. It is wise to know what that angle is if you want to live a long life. I don't know how much I trust certain people and I don't know what you mean about the raven goddess and that being cleared actually. He did too say that Votishal did not want Verona to have it. I winced when he said it!" Roganna exclaims with a muffled curse.

"But, no one knew that the Sceptre was really an artifact from the Empire of Saltar until we returned. And since we never actually gave it to Verona, how can you judge us guilty of a crime we did not actually commit?"

"I consulted both Ray Jay and King Goldhime about the mission. Neither had any worries about the larger issues at hand. Had Zanax told us what Votishal had told him, we would have had something concrete to examine. He did not, we went on the information we had."

"Well then, I wouldn't use them as sources again in the future. Sounds like they didn't really know either. Who is Ray Jay and who is King Goldlame? Chances are with those kinds of conclusions, they won't be who they are for too much longer," Roganna says with a chuckle.

"Fine. Find me better sources than two people who have lived centuries and make it a point to study history."

She addresses Hlarn again. "What are your intentions towards Zanax? Do you indeed wish to protect him as you seem to imply, or are you still hell bent on returning this gizmo to Verona?"

"I'm not going to harm Zanax, but I do not think he should be allowed to take the device either. I would not have one who asks a person to betray their friends and withhold confidences to keep the artifact. To me that is just as wrong as any fears he might have had about Verona's own usage of the thing," the dwarf says. "Once we have regained control of the artifact, then as a group, including Zanax, we will discuss what to do with it."

"We are hell bent on retrieving this Sceptre. Period. We have already stated that we will not be giving it to Verona. We will need to find a neutral third party."

Hlarn shakes his head. "I think we should not rule out letting Zanax give the scepter to Voshital or returning it to Verona at this early date without more information. Ray Jay's suggestions both had merit as well, but obviously have their own problems. Rage does not trust the Wizards, and Ray Jay said that the other archmage he mentioned does not reside in a defensible fortress to protect it."

Roganna shrugs, then quickly stops, remembering Rage's solution to that little habit. "Okay, I can live with that."

"We are still not a monarchy of a group and I believe you have just been outvoted," grumbles Sian, looking at the door. "Now you said we were given some options as to people we could give the scepter to...who are they? I can probably come up with a few also...if the need arises so I would like to know."

Roganna nods in agreement with Sian. "I would like to know as well."

"The Wizards were one of his choices. The artifact is of their making. That would put it out of reach of any humans wanting to reform an Empire. Valdar is another person Ray Jay mentioned, but she warned that the more people know the Scepter is free the more people might go looking for it, and Valdar's home is not a fortress."

"Never trust a wizard. They scheme more than any other guild I know. It would be best to teleport it to another realms, and perhaps opening the rift to Hlarn Meg's homeland may be the best solution." the mage says stroking her chin.

Hlarn shakes his head. "Wizard with a capitol W, as in the race itself. I'm not refering to the mages guild. As for taking it to my - "

"Nor was I." Rage replies. "It is in the mage's blood, and there is not one I have met who does not scheme."

" - homeland, that might be a good decision. This artifact would likely have no power in my homeland. But as yet I've not had the power to travel back to that land, and I do not think anyone but me could find it out of the infinite worlds of the prime."

"I also agree with Rage about not going until morning for a couple of reasons. First I had to send my people out looking for you becuase you got in such a hurry to go after Zanax on his own turf. Now that was kind of dumb. And I don't know exactly when they will be back. I am assuming soon."

"We have time. Ray Jay expects us back in two days. As Rage has said and I already considered, she has never been to Hork and thus I asked the archmage to take us there. Thus we have time to consider our plans."

Hlarn shrugs. "Anyway he's not on his home turf...he's leaving the city. If not for his head start I probably could have caught him and I certainly have the means of stopping him once I do."

"Second, Aron went and pledged his services to Verona so someone needs to go get him."

The dwarf nods. "What happened at Verona's? Did she raise Rage or did someone use my scroll? Did she say what she was planning? Ray Jay does not agree with Zanax's diety, but likewise thinks its a good idea for someone not as politically minded to hold the thing."

"Third, Zanax is supposed to contact Roganna at some point this evening. I trust that he will do a little explaining then."

People start talking at once.

"Zanax and I have already had a long conversation. He has been ordered by his diety to NOT let Verona have the Scepter and to deliver it to Hork, or at least that is what he told me. This he kept from us, and that alone is reason enough in my opinion - "

Roganna laughs, shaking her head. "Well, in some ways I might agree Hlarn, about deception, but I also will say that you don't inspire much trust. Nor does this party in general. I know, harsh words, based on what exactly, right?"

"Why do we not inspire much trust? What have we done to betray Zanax's trust?"

"It isn't a matter of betraying Zanax's trust. Where do you come up with such nonsense?" Roganna says, rubbing her temples.

"Because you said we do not inspire much trust. And since you did not explain or provide examples, I jumped at the conclusion that you were speaking about Zanax."

"I meant that we are all hotheads and don't take well to different ideas. Not until we have been hit over the head with a clue by four anyway. We are so quick to judge, but in the wrong ways. We are so quick to embrace certain things without question. We are so quick in a lot of things...and they always bite us in the ass in the end. As we are experiencing now. That is what I mean. We are all hotheads and we tend not to listen too well either."

"Can you provide examples?"

"You all are so stubborn, so blind to many things around you. None of you were open to anything other than that we return the device to Verona. Look at your reactions, remember them as they happened. Consider the implications of your actions and examine the consequences your actions and your lack of action have wrought. Be honest with yourselves. You may find yourself quite surprised."

"I have and you are not making much sense."

Roganna sighs. "Very well."

Hlarn shakes his head. "Half a brain is right. If he had finished his thoughts he would have shared his mistrusts and we could have discussed the matter."

Hlarn frowns. "But I'm willing to let him do so even now. It may have been possible that he was about to tell us, but Aron's wish put matters beyond his control. But even so, he did not stop to meet with me even after I pleaded with him to do so."

"At the moment, it seems moot, since he is motivated by things more than your concern. What would you do, Hlarn Meg, if your Silverbeard told you to take the Scepter to some location? I am sure his diety has promised him reward if he succeeds, and I suspect he will succeed, unless and until someone stops him, and that someone needs to be Roganna, Sian, and I."

Hlarn laughs. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'll answer you as I answered Kadlian and Ray Jay. If Silverbeard had ordered me to keep the Scepter, I would have told you of it so that you knew where I stood. If he had asked me to decieve my friends, I would flatly have refused, even if it means forsaking my faith. But it is not a decision I will ever have to make, as my god, like me, despises deception."

Dor nods and extends his hand to Hlarn. "I would consider it an honor to fight at your side."

Rage rolls her eyes.

"What a suck up," Logan mutters about Dor.

Hlarn laughs again. "I recall some serious suckage when you joined us as well."

"Only when he first joined up? I hadn't noticed it stopping yet..." Roganna says in surprise, looking at Logan.

"Only to Beauty," he grins, "but then I guess she goes for the big and brainless, no wonder we are no longer together!"

"Quiet Logan. Continue your exercise," the mage says.

"Hey, where's my cat?" asks the gnome suddenly.

Hlarn accepts the hand of Dor and clasps it firmly. "Thank you. I welcome you to our group."

He smiles then, wondering what the new folks think of this discussion. "Do not be discouraged by our banter. When we are out of combat we often argue and fuss about the large and small details. But we would not have survived this long if we did not know how to work together when it mattered."

" - why he shouldn't have the Scepter either. I would not trust it to one who uses deception. But stopping Zanax is not the same as saying we won't listen to him. But just as you would get mad at Kadlian or I - "

"And yet you have already made up your mind," Rage says, looking at Hlarn Meg with some intensity.

"Have I? As I told Zanax, I'm willing to let him have his say. And I think Ray Jay has a point in that it should be held in neutral hands for the moment. When we were arguing the matter before I insisted it be returned to Verona because that is what we were hired to do. She had already paid us for the task even. Zanax could have told us then that he did not intend to bargain in good faith and I would have refused the assignment or refused payment."

" - for taking everything into our own hands, so too must we stop Zanax from deciding what must be done as well."

"Seems Zanax was the only one with half a brain to question our mission. That gives him the right to take action. We have all been sheep, and if you are honest, you will realize that," Roganna says.

"Excuse me? He was the only one with the information? How does that give him the right to take action? How do you know we would not have agreed with him had he shared that information?"

"Any person that is alive and has a brain can take action. That is what living is about. As to why he didn't share information, you will have to ask him. I suspect it is the same reason that I did not share what I knew as well. Because you are all so hot-headed, impulsive, and stubborn in all the wrong ways," Roganna says tiredly.

"And what information do you know? And please provide examples of this hot-headedness, impulsiveness and stubbornness. And if you are going to group us all together, it would probably be better if you came up with examples for each of us. Then we can learn from our mistakes and become better people."

"Again a moot point."

"Fourth, Kad needs to go talk with his trees because they probably not going to hang around this town very long and they are his responsibility if he likes it or not."

The dwarf nods. "I'd prefer not to rehash everything anyway. We can wait for everyone to arrive."

"Fifth, Isabella just let something slip that I don't think she was supposed to and I am not sure if I like the sounds of it...but that we can discuss later."

Hlarn looks puzzled and tries to think what was said, but comes up blank.

"About being promised seperate bodies for the people inside her in return for getting the artifacts...did you sleep through this entire mission, Hlarn?" Roganna asks, looking a bit irritated now. "When Rage was brought back, some voice promised her bodies in return for finding the other items. Most likely Occa's patron."

Hlarn shakes his head. "You forget, I was not there when Rage was brought back. What happened then, and how was it accomplished? Did Umboth need to use my scroll, or did Verona raise her? And does Rage want separate bodies? It seems to me that such a solution would create separate people with only partial personalities."

"When was this? When Hlarn, Kailar and I were with Ray Jay?"

Roganna frowns. "Actually, I don't know..."

"Do you need me to keep ranting or would you like to calm down and listen to what we have to say, rather than listening to yourself for once?" says Sian angrily.

Roganna nods, her eyes scanning everyone in the group. "I completely agree and wish I had said all that first, Sian." She looks to Hlarn expectantly.

"I don't need to listen to myself, I know my own mind. It's trying to get you folks to listen that is the difficult task."

Roganna rolls her eyes and chuckles.

Rage stifles a laugh. "There is a difference in approach. Even now you talk down to the rest of us, as if you know the only course of action, and that is no different than what Zanax has just done and what you have accused him of."

The dwarf looks up. "I never said I wasn't hard-headed and wanted things done my way. But ok, what would you prefer to do, then? One way in which we differ Rage is that I at least tell you what I plan and am willing to change my goals based upon what others say. But if you say nothing, what else can I do? You always act in secret and do as you please, just as you did in Mestrom with the Scepter."

"Ohhh, and one more thing while I am pissed off. Our two new members have mine and Rage's complete confidence right now. They WILL not be given any tests," says Sian, looking directly at Hlarn.

The dwarf shrugs. "I had not even considered it and your mentioning it shows me how little you understood why I did it in the first place. The tests I felt necessary during the time when we were outlaws, our names besmirched, and someone was informing the Black Keep of our activities. That threat ended when we killed Tibia. Did I even mention the tests when you came back from training afterward with a whole army of followers?"

"I believe you proposed the tests to Logan and Roganna." the mage says, "But then again, we got distracted and those were never performed." The mage chuckles again, "And I too did not undergo your tests, so perhaps I am still in the pay of the Tibia and will destroy you from the inside."

The dwarf lowers his voice, "But if in the future we are placed in simular circumstances, I would certainly question anyone who came unannounced wanting to join us."

"I'll make sure to hire a herald next time to announce newcomers so that they will be announced."

Turning to Roganna, the ranger concludes, "Please come get me when Zanax calls. I will be at the door," says Sian calmly as he moves to look out the door to see if he can see any of his followers coming.

Roganna nods, griping Sian's arm lightly in a gesture of friendship and respect as he passes by.

Hlarn turns to the others. "I need to wash up and get some rest as well so that I can relearn my spells." He bows to you in farewell. "So you can be spared my endless chatter for a time. But consider this while I'm resting. I would also like to try communing with Silverbeard and see what my diety has to say about all of this. Perhaps you can think of some good questions to ask. Keep in mind they tend to be answered only with a yes or no."

Finishing up instructions, he asks, "Kadlian, Sian is right. You had best see to your followers. We can finish up this discussion when everyone is again present. Shall we say tonight an hour after nightfall? While you are with them, can you ask your followers if anything happened at the camp while we were inside the Keep? Perhaps they observed something of relevance."

Turning to Sian, Hlarn adds, "You might suggest to your own followers when they return that they help heal those who are wounded. I'll be doing that as well tommorrow, but their help would certainly speed matters. And if possible I'll need my scroll back as well. I think I might have a use for it."

Kadlian rolls his eyes. "I have already asked twice, where the treants went and no one has seen fit to give me an answer I can understand. As for the rest of the group, where did they go? And did Fleetwing, my hippogriff go with the treants?"

"I will ask about what occurred while we were gone."

"Kad you must be feeling pretty bad. Your hippogriff was torched with the rest of the party. As for your treants, they just said they would be outside the town," says Sian from the doorway.

"Did they say in what direction they were heading? Outside of town is a bit vague..."

"Sorry bout that. They said to the west," says Sian.

"Thank you, Sian. I will see to them very shortly."

"If we are done for our discussion this evening and have two days of rest I am going to do something that needs for one of my followers. So I will be out of touch. If you have something that you need from me Kad let me know and I will see what I can do about it before I go. I will be back before you all leave," says Sian as he comes back into the dining room.

"We could use Umboth and any of the druids that can heal people to help out Hlarn and Roganna."

"As soon as they get back I will have them all jump on it," says Sian looking at his bloody shirt.

"Thanks. See to yourself, first. You were the most badly wounded."

"And, at some point, I would like a private word with you."

"Just say when," states Sian.

"Oh Mr. Sian sir, When," the mage says in a quiet voice.

"Later, if I might. We both should see to our followers. Time for talk between old friends can wait until we have ale on the table between us."

"Rage, if you have a sec I need to ask something of you," asks Sian as he moves towards her.

They speak for a moment in low voices.

Looking around the room, the ranger from Strabath says, "Some of us have been with each other now for quite some time. I find it reprehensible that we immediately start calling traitor of one of our own when something happens that doesn't follow the groups thinking. For all we know Zanax does know something about the scepter. Maybe if put into a certain persons hands it blows up. All of us standing there we are all now dead. There can be many reasons that he did what he did. But until he explains himself we can't be sure. Making assumptions based on that he didn't tell us what he was doing doesn't hold up for me," states Sian.

Turnin to Kadlian, he adds, "I agree that he should have told us first what was up but guess what he didn't and now he is off to the races. Maybe rather than complaining about this we should just get prepared to go after him."

Looking over at Logan he concludes, "Logan you of all people have no right to make a judgment on who should live and what for. If you even look at Zanax sideways when we catch up to him we will have words," growls Sian.

Turning to Hlarn, he says, "You said you had a conversation with him on your little flying trip? How? I thought he was the one that had to make contact not the other way around. I really don't see as you would be the one he would contact," says Sian questioningly. "If that is the case then he probably won't be talking to Roganna."

Hlarn nods. "You are correct, he had to contact me. While he was in contact we discussed the matter very briefly, and when he broke contact I could no longer speak with him. Why he chose me I do not know... probably because he knew I would be the one most frustrated by this betrayal."

"Okay, now that we have all agreed that we need to talk a little more about who to give the thing to or where to store it....we need to figure out how we are going to track it. Did Zanax tell you he was going to Horth or did you find it out from somewhere else?" ask Sian.

"Well, I believe he mentioned it to Hlarn, but he has asked me about Hork before. Seems that is where Votishal has a temple. Of course, he could always double back. That is why Hlarn is so interested in finding a way to track an invisible being through the crystal ball. Rage said she would do some investigation at the Mage's Guild."

Hlarn sighs. "Unfortunately I heard it only from him. We know he was flying, but I believe that was due to the residual spell cast prior to our battle. I don't think he has any magic item granting that ability. We also know he's invisible."

"Well then I guess that would be our best bet. As far as research goes I don't have anything that would be helpful in those areas so...I will still be doing my small erands I mentioned before," says Sian

"I believe that the invisibility thing is going to be our worst problem being as it is a ring that is granting him that ability," says Sian

"Barkeep, another ale and a room key, I think I will retire early for the evening, I am some thinking to do!" Logan says in a serious tone. Looking as Rage leaves, "alright, maybe I blew things out of proportion.

"Have fun all," he says as he heads upstairs.

If no further business, Hlarn retires for the rest of the evening to regain spells.

The rest of you take rooms and also depart.

next day...

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