Episode 17
"Back for More"
(c) 2000, Matt Grossman and J. Sage Schreiner

Tron Malkaszar, an irreverant elf -- Matt Grossman
Norel Bolderdash, hulking woodsman of the Adri forest -- Tom Morin
Nigil Palom, noble from a far-distant land -- Kevin Osborn
Aran, a newly remade Paladin from Tenh -- AJ Drexel
Tika, a courageous gnome -- Corey Paganucci
Rhahid, a mysterious spell-crafter -- Eric Kruller 
All others -- Sage Schreiner


The party has just emerged from the sewers of Bellport in the middle
of a play performance.

Director: So... can any of you guys act?  Three of our company got
eaten by orcs last week, and we need people.  We pay pretty good... a
silver piece a week! And a share of the profits.
Nigil: Wow, a whole silver piece!  Let me think about that... NOT!
Director: Well, fine, if that's your attitude.  The park gate is that
way.

An actor emerges from a tent, rubbing his stomach.  He is wearing fake
elf ears.

Actor: We've got to work on the blocking for that thene.  I keep
getting hit in the thtomach.
Dolma: (holds onto Aran's sleeve and sniffs the air curiously)
Tron: I wonder who that guy is supposed to be?
Norel: I smell something... smoke... like a building is one fire.

From outside, the sound of jingling chainmail can be heard as a squad 
of heavily armed soldiers jogs by. The party leaves the park cautiously.

Norel: Hey, it looks like there are some warships in the harbor.
Tika: Who are those guys in the horned helmets, and why are they
burning down buildings and carrying off women?
Aran: Fortunately, our inn is away from the docks.  Even a paladin of
Hieroneous has to know when not to charge into battle.
Nigil: Yeah, it looks like the town guard can handle this. [As he says
this a hurrying squad gets ambushed from an ally. A few survivors try
to flee and are quickly cutdown].
Aran: Yup. They've got it under control.
Tron: Fortunately, around here nobody will notice another bunch of
dirty naked guys with swords.
Desh: (gapes in awe at the surface world, a wondrous place of light
and food)
Skanda: (still unconscious)

They head for the central square of Bellport and the Dragon of Corusk
Inn.  As they walk along the street troops of city guards run past,
completely ignoring the party.  They reach the inn without incident
and knock on the door.

Innkeeper: By Hextor, more beggars!  Here, have a crust of bread and
go away!
Nigil: Don't you remember us?
Innkeeper: ...
Nigil: I used to have this horned helmet...
Tron: Visualize us wearing clothes...
Aran: And with a druid and another woman...
Tika: And without me...
Innkeeper: No.
Norel: We saved your inn during the riot!
Innkeeper: Saved? Oh yeah, with the druid... yeah.
Nigil: Where is Jola?  The woman who was with us.  Is she still here?
Innkeeper: Umm... no, actually.  She left a couple weeks ago.
Nigil: Huh?  Did she say where she was going?
Innkeeper: I dunno, but she was with these two people, a man dressed
in red, rusty colored robes and a woman dressed in black.  I think
they were priests... They seemed like her friends.
Nigil: NOOOOOO!!!!

His cry of frustration echoes from the cold stone of the temple of
Hextor across the square.

Innkeeper: ...if you guys are going to stand around talking, could you
please take baths? And let me see the color of your money, first!

The party bathes, rents a room, gets some clothes, and discusses the
situation.

Aran: I sense that Skanda will recover if we let her rest.  Her system
has had a severe shock, and her phlemagtic humor is ascendant.
Skanda: (Breathes weakly)
Nigil: Well, we can't go on to Ratik yet. We have to rescue Jola, if
she's still alive, and avenge her if she's dead.
Tron: And get back our treasure. She had a fortune in gems and jewelry
with her.
Norel: I think that we all need to train and increase our skills.
Plus, the trail is already cold.  Tika, you don't have to go with us.
Tika: That's ok. But now we're on the surface, could you call me
Sapphire instead? That's the Aerdi translation of my name.

They decide to spend six weeks in Bellport resting and training.
Skanda soon recovers, although she seems frailer than she was before.
Desh quickly begins to grow, and spends a lot of his time on the
street with the other urchins.  Aran attempts to train him as a page,
with limited success.  

Aran: Hey, you call this shiny?
Desh: (runs away)
Aran: I've got spots on my armor! I'd be ashamed! Bah.

Dolma remains quiet and withdrawn, still traumatized by her experiences
in the fishmen's lair.

Tron, Nigil, and Sapphire train in the fighter's guildhall, and
advance in power. Tron also learns how to swim.

Nigil: Swimming is always useful.
Norel: I must go and find a ranger who is skilled enough to train me.
(wanders off)
Rhahid: I must find the mage's guild. (wanders off)
Aran: How am I going to find a good paladin to train me in this place?
Skanda: Follow me, there's probably a group of Pholtus worshipers
around here somewhere. I spoke with Gabriel, the knight of Pholtus,
many months ago. He explained that, during the war, the worshippers of
Pholtus, once strong in this kingdom were scattered. (She shivers)

Eventually she finds a local astronomy club.

Blind Old Man: The light of the stars can be blinding...
Skanda: Only when one knows what the dance is.
Blind Old Man: Heh. You are welcome, sister.
Aran: I seek knowledge of the pure sword!

Meanwhile, Norel has been wandering in search of a teacher.  After a
few days of searching, in a rural inn...

Norel: I sense that you are one who knows the ways of the forest.
Grizzled Ranger: Ayup.
Norel: Train me!
Grizzled Ranger: Bring me single hair from the white boar -- then I
will train you.

Aran increases in skill more than anyone else, so he needs to train
longer.  The rest of the party spend their time eating, taking care of
various chores, and listening to the news of the North Province,
shouted by the town crier outside their window every day. Desh can
speak some Aerdy now, and seems to know a lot of words surrounding
possessions, "Give that back," "Come back, thief" and "That's mine!"

Nigil: I've been trying to sell the gems we found in the caves for
cash, but there aren't any honest gem dealers in this whole city.
Supposedly there's one in a village a day's ride south of here.

Tron and Nigil ride south to the village and sell the gems.
Surprisingly, nobody tries to rob them on the way back.

Nigil: He ripped us off, but he ripped us off less than that guy in
Bellport would have.
Tron: I dunno about this counting stuff. I like my new horse,
Barringer, though.
Nigil: I named my horse Dead, because that's what he's going to be as
soon as the fighting starts. Happens every time.

Norel commissions a fine longsword from the best weaponsmith in town.

Nigil: It's not as good as mine though.

Norel also crafts a new longbow for himself, and he and the rest of
the party buy equipment.

Tron: I'll take 20 of your normal arrows and 10 "top quality" arrows.
Sapphire: This "petite" backpack is useless, and I don't like "teddybear"
on it. I'll take a human sized backpack instead, and shorten the straps.

Tron: I bought two healing potions from an alchemist.  Weird guy.  He
asked me what I thought of Patriarch Hallderm before giving them to
me.
Aran: What did you say?
Tron: I don't remember, something about him being just. Or something.
Anyway, I guess he bought it 'cause he gave me the potions.
Nigil: I guess.

Town Crier: ...needed to end an orc infestation, contact Rafe at
Shalister's keep... Countess Scarvo is looking for her lost dog, Felix, there
is a reward... miners are disappearing from a mine to the north, anyone
able to solve this mystery should contact Aethelred the Short... Discount
sale at Marty's Fish and Pickles...

Tron: Huh?  Scarvo?  Hang on guys... (runs out)

Tron goes up to the crier, finds out where the Countess lives, and
goes there.  It is in an upper-class part of town.  Tron knocks on the
door.  A butler answers.

Butler: What can I do for you?
Tron: Yeah, umm, I'm here about the dog.
Butler: [bored] What does the dog you found look like?
Tron: No, see, I'm going to find the dog.  I'm an expert with animals
and stuff.
Butler: Sure you are.  So is everyone who comes by here.
Tron: No, really.  It's an elf thing.
Butler: Well, between you and me, I think the dog is probably in the
orc part of town, if you know what I mean. [makes eating motions]
Tron: Uh, yeah, thanks.  Say, is the countess home?
Butler: No. (blocks door with his body)
Tron: Right, well, umm... I'll come back when I've got the
dog. [leaves]
Butler: Humph. (closes door)

Tron rejoins the party.

Nigil: What was that about?
Tron: Just a little business I've got to take care of later.
Aran: Anyway, we've decided to postpone going to Ratik until we can
find Jola and Myra.  One possible thing we could do is get divine
help.  Unfortunately, neither Skanda nor myself is high enough in the
favor of our respective gods to get that help.  But the high priest of
Pholtus can commune with his god.  Unfortunately, it will cost a donation
1000 silver.
Norel: No.
Nigil: I think we could barely afford that after paying the innkeeper,
if we pooled all our money.
Tron: What do these "honest folk" do when they're not ripping off
adventurers?
Sapphire: Are we going to wait for Rhahid?  A mage could come in
useful.
Nigil: No, I don't want to waste any more time.  The question is how
to find their trail...

Desh: Me ask other kids.  Me find out if they see this man and woman.
You give me money.
Tron: That sounds like a plan.
Nigil: (tosses Desh some coins)
Aran: Wait, what about polishing my breastplate?
Desh: (runs out)
Aran: He's no Tella, that's for sure.
Skanda: I miss that girl. But I like Dolma. She's a quick learner. Though
blinded, I think she might become a priestess of Pholtus.
Norel: Well, if we're not going to Ratik, we should buy horses.

Sapphire, Aran, and Norel go to a used horse dealer.

Horse Dealer: This is a really great one.  Look how white the teeth
are!  Look at that glossy coat!
Aran: Yeah, that does look pretty good.
Norel: Hey, this is paint!  And the teeth have been bleached!  And
this leg is fake!  Show us the good horses.
Horse Dealer: Ah!  I see you know your horses!  How about these ones
over here?
Norel: Yeah, these will do.
Sapphire: Do you have any riding dogs?
Horse Dealer: Riding what?
Sapphire: Ok, do you have any war ponies?
Horse Dealer: Sure we do!  Blossom here is really savage.  She comes
with a saddle, bridle, and a kitten, too.
Sapphire: [sigh] I'll take "Blossom". Can somone help me up?

Desh comes back and reports that some kids saw the man in red and
woman in black buying some goods at a warehouse outside of town
several weeks ago.  The party goes to investigate, and Aran questions
the woman at the counter.

Aran: Have you seen these people? (describes the priests)
Woman: Yeah, they came in and bought some stuff a while back. (Lears
at the handsome piece of "manflesh" in front of her.)
Aran: Did they have anyone else with them?
Woman: No, but they were associated with this bunch of mercenaries.
Son: (Picks nose and examines finger)
Every couple weeks some of these mercenaries show up with a pack train, buy
a bunch of stuff, and head off north.
Aran: These mercenaries... do they bear the symbol of the splintered
fist?
Woman: Yeah.
Aran: What's north of here?
Woman: Those hills are full of mines.
Aran: Ah-hah!
Woman: Anything else?
Son: (Flicks it towards a wall)
Aran: We'd like to surprise these people.  Could you, umm, not tell
them that we were here (tosses her some money)?
Woman: I get it.  I won't tell. Are you sure there's nothing else?
Aran: Thanks ma'am.
Woman: Absolutely positive?

Aran reports what he found out.

Nigil: Women like you because you're so shiny.
Norel: I can find the tracks of the pack train, but it fades out
soon.
Tron: We could just ask at some of the villages up there.  I bet
someone will have noticed a new band of mercenaries in the area.
Aran: I'm worried they'll have spies.
Nigil: I suggest Sapphire ask, that way word won't get back to the
priests that we're still alive.
Skanda: Before we leave, let's drop off Dolma with the priests of
Pholtus here.  She's really not suited for a life of adventure.

Several days later, a lone gnome walks down the main street of a
nameless small hill town.  Spurs clink on her feet as she pushes
open the doors of the Last Chance Saloon.

Sapphire: Gimme a beer.
Bartender: Huh? Sure.
Sapphire: Any action in these parts?  I'm looking for work.
Bartender: [snicker] Hey, Missy!  You got a potential employee here!
Sapphire: No, wait, actually what I meant was...

A one-legged woman enters the bar... none other than Missy, the
one-legged whore!

Missy: Yeah, you'll do as an exotic.  You get to keep tips, and...
Sapphire: No, actually, I'm a mercenary.  I was asking if there was
any _military_ action in the area.
Bartender: Well, I dunno... Aethelred might be hiring mercenaries in
Anis.  It's about a days ride to the north.  They're having problems,
something about miners disappearing.
Sapphire: Anis, huh?  Thanks, partner.

She walks out.

Missy: Who was that strange gnome?

Sapphire returns to the party, who have camped outside of town, and
reports.

Tron: I guess something is heinous in Anis. [snort]
Nigil: Something smells bad in Anis. [snicker]
Aran: I agree, those two are probably kidnapping miners and turning
them into zombies.  Now, we've got figure out how to slip into Anis
without anyone noticing...
Norel: So our problem is how to penetrate Anis? [snicker]
Nigil: We should send Sapphire, she's small. [chuckle]
Skanda: (struggles to keep a straight face)
Aran: What's so funny?

Several days later, Sapphire walks down the main street of the town of
Anis.  As she walks past the brothel, several men whistle at her and
make comments.

Man1: Hey there cutie!
Man2: I like 'em short and sexy!  Whoah!
Man3: She reminds me of my daughter, if ya know what I mean.
Man4: Old enought to pee, old enough for me.

Sapphire ignores them, but they follow her down the street.

Man1: Turn around there, shorty.  You're just about the right height
to suck...
Sapphire: (spins around, draws her sword, and bares her teeth, which
are filed to points)
Man1: Whoah!  Looks like she's a nipper!

The men are all brandishing various mining implements threateningly.

Meanwhile, on a hill above the town...

Tron: Anis sure is small...
Nigil: But it produces a lot of waste! (points to a slag heap)
Norel: Bwhahaha!
Tron: (snirfles his porridge) Owww!
Skanda: Hey, wait, I think Sapphire's in trouble...

Sapphire: Wait!  Are you Aethelred?
Man1: Huh?  No.
Sapphire: Good. [splork]
Man1: Urrgh! [thud] Ohhhh... it hurts!!! I'm dying!!!

The other men think better of fighting Sapphire and drag their
companion's body away.

Prostitute: (leans out of the brothel) You go, girl!
Sapphire: No wonder all the miner's are disappearing...

On the hillside...

Skanda: No, I guess not.
Norel: Anis! [snicker]
Tron: (rolls on the ground laughing)
Aran: Come on, guys.  Pay attention! This is serious.

Back in town, Sapphire has found out that Aethelred is down in the
mine.  She goes to the mine elevator, a donkey powered contraption.

Sapphire: Where's Ethelred?
Miner: He's on the lowest level.  They hit a spring and the mine is
seeping -- he's trying to block it up.

Sapphire takes the elevator down to the lowest level, and steps out
into chest deep water (that is, two feet of water).  At the end of a
passage she finds a burly dwarf shouting instructions to a bunch of
miners trying to plug a hole in the wall from which water is
trickling.

Dwarf: No, no, no!  Put your shoulders into it, you worthless
maggots!
Sapphire: Are you Aethelred?
Dwarf: Huh?  Yes I am.  What's it to you, gnome? Bah. Gnomes. Almost
as useless as humans.
Sapphire: I've come about the disappearing miners.
Aethelred: What could a little gnome do about that? Dwarves -- now
dwarves are useful. What I wouldn't give for a few wolid dwarves.
Sapphire: I'm not alone.  My friends are waiting outside of town.
Aethelred: Are they gnomes too? Humans probably -- what a weak-willed
culture.
Sapphire: No.
Ethelred: Ok, have 'em come in and meet me in my office.  Joe, you're
in charge.  Get that beam braced, or I'll skin you alive!

Aethelred and Sapphire return to the surface.  Sapphire goes back and
meets with the party.  They decide to send Nigil and Norel into town
with her.  If they keep their helmets on, nobody will be able to
recognize them.

Tron: We'll be watching to make sure you enter and leave Anis
safely. [snicker]
Norel: Wait!  Whose "Anis" are you entering? [snicker]
Tron: Bwhahaha!
Skanda: (mutters something about sophomoric humor)

Nigil, Norel, and Sapphire meet with Aethelred in his office, but learn
little. Miners have been disappearing from the streets of
the town and from the surrounding hills.  There have been no
disappearances in the mine itself. Aethelred has no idea who or what
might be responsible, and he hasn't seen any mercenaries around.
There are a number of abandoned mines around, but Aethelred doesn't
know anything much about them.

Aethelred: I'm not interested in mines that are useless.

Nigil: Well, that didn't tell us much.
Norel: I'm not sure this has anything to do with the people we're
looking for.
Sapphire: I'm going to go ask in the brothel.  Maybe they know
something.

She goes into the brothel and talks to the madame.

Madame: Now ya mention it, I did see two guys with that symbol just a
couple weeks ago.
Sapphire: What did they look like?
Madame: Ya, well, one was kind of funny lookin', ya know?  And the
other one was kind of tall and smoked a lot.
Sapphire: rrrright...
Madame: You can talk to the girls who were with them. Here's the first.
Saphire: Do you remember a guy with this symbol?
Girl: Huh? Kinda.
Saphire: Did he tell you anything?
Girl: Huh?
Saphire: Never mind.

A man walks out of a room, pulls up his pants, and leaves the
brothel.

Madame: Hey, it looks like Rachel's free now.  You can go talk to her.
She, uhhhh... doesn't get up much.

Sapphire goes and talks to Rachel, a massively fat woman, who is lying
in bed eating pickled herring.

Rachel: Well, maybe I remember that guy...
Sapphire: (gives her five silver pieces)
Rachel: Yup, I do remember him.  He said that the came from Harvey's
mine, about a day's ride to the east. Pickled herring?
Sapphire: Uh, no thanks.  Did he say anything about what he was doing?
Rachel: Well, he didn't say much, ya know?
Sapphire: Do you know anything about the missing miners?
Rachel: Nope.

Sapphire reports to the rest of the party.

Sapphire: ...and her thigh was bigger than me! [shudder] You humans
are gross.

The party camps on a hill above the town, but nothing troubles them
that night. The days down overcast, hot and intensely humid. There are
thunder in the distance, but no relief. They ride to the east.  After
riding for about twelve miles, they stop and start searching on foot. Towards
evening, they hear dogs barking and follow the sound to a small fort.

Aran: That's them.  Tomorrow we will end this!

The next day dawns hotter, overcast and drizzling.  The adventurers prepare
for battle.

Aran: Desh, you stay here and watch the horses.
Desh: Ok.
Tron: (painting his face with camoflage stripes) This rain will mask
our approach, but if we leave our bows strung they'll become useless.

The party heads south and circles around the fort, taking up a
position behind a slag heap.  Tron and Norel scout around the fort and
report back.

Norel: It's a roughly square berm of rock and dirt, about eight feet
high.  There's an opening facing west, and there's an area facing the
slag heap where the berm has been pushed down into a sort of ramp,
probably by people carrying slag out of the mine to the slag heap.
There's a two-story wooden building, some smaller wooden buildings,
and some ruined stone buildings.  There's also a cloth pavilion.  I
didn't see the dogs, but there are two guards walking the perimeter
together.
Tron: We'll take out the guards, then you can charge in and deal with
whoever else is in there.  If the priest and priestess are in the
mine, we'll have them trapped.

Tron and Norel sneak up to the berm and wait for the guards to go
past.

Guard1: So then I said to her "Hey..."
Tron: (jumps out, but his foot slips on the rain-slick rock)
Guard2: What was that?
Norel: (swings and misses)
Tron: (swings and hits, but fails to kill)
Guard1: Alarm!  Intruders!

The guards run off the wall towards one of the buildings.  Norel
follows them.  Tron climbs on the wall and starts stringing his bow.

Nigil: That's our cue!  Let's go!
Aran: For Hieroneous!
Skanda: For Pholtus!

They charge towards the fort.

Sapphire: [clank clank] Wait for me!

Guard1: (runs to a bell and starts ringing it)
Guard2: (runs to the large wooden building)
Norel: (cuts down Guard1)

A mob of about two dozen skeletons bursts from one of the buildings
and charges Tron and Norel.  Also a pack of savage dogs charges
towards Norel.

Norel: Um, I need backup.
Tron: (still stringing his bow)

Norel puts his back to a building and fights, surrounded by waves of
dogs and skeletons.  Meanwhile, Tron finishes stringing his bow as six
skeletons rush towards him.

Tron: [twang twang]
Skeleton: (falls)

The other skeletons reach the wall Tron is standing on.

Tron: [twang twang]
Skeleton: (struck from directly above, its skull, spine, and pelvis
are shattered)

The remaining four skeletons start climbing the wall.  Suddenly Skanda
arrives.

Skanda: By the power of Pholtus, BEGONE!

A massive wave of light pusles out from her out-streched fist. The skeletons
attacking Tron are instantly destroyed.

Tron: Whoah.
Norel: Sit, doggie! [cleave]
Dog: Urf.
Skanda: Ahem.. By the power of Pholtus, BEGONE!

The skeletons attacking Norel are destroyed

Norel: All right! (kills another dog)

Meanwhile, Nigil has run around the other side of the building Norel
was standing against, and been attacked by several skeletons.

Nigil: Gnyarrr! [smash crunch shatter pulverize]
Skanda: Do you need any help?
Nigil: No thanks, I turn undead with my longsword. (runs towards the
two-story building)

Sapphire and Aran charge towards the two-story building.  Archers are
now firing from the upper windows.

Aran: (vaults over a fence, runs through the corral in back of the
building, and kicks in the door) Go fer yer swords, varmints!
Sapphire: (runs along the side of the building, climbs up onto a berm,
and attacks a mercenary through the window) Eat steel, dog!

Tron is hit by an arrow fired from an archer in the top story of the
tall building.

Tron: Hey! [twang]
Archer: Ouch! Everyone shoot at the elf!
Tron: (takes cover behind a wagon, then pops up and fires again,
missing)
Archer: Get that one!
Tron: (ducks more arrows, then stands up, takes aim, and shoots his
target through the forehead)
Archer: Aaaagh! (falls out of the window and lands near Nigil, who is
trying to get the front door open)
Nigil: Cool, a railing death.

Skanda runs over to the building the skeletons came from, finding it
empty.  Norel runs over to the pavilion and cuts a slit in the back
wall.

Norel: What the... slabs of rock?!

He starts moving towards the front of the pavilion to get a line of
sight on the two-story building.

Sapphire: [hack chop parry cut dodge]
Mercenary: [chop cut dodge parry hack]

Mercenary Leader: Get him!
Aran: [Whack]
Mercenary Leader: Ohhhh...
Mercenary1: Hiyaa! [hack]
Mercenary2: [chop]
Aran: Ooogh...
Mercenary1: Heh heh...
Aran: By the power of Hieroneous!  [cleave]
Mercenary1: (cleft in twain, dies instantly)
Leader: [gulp] If we surrender, will you spare our lives?
Aran: Yield or die!
Leader: Ok, we give up!

The mercenaries surrender.  There are no more enemies in the fort.  In
less than a minute, the battle is over.

Nigil: Recognize me? (pulls off his helmet)
Mercenary: Hey, those are the guys from that cathedral!  I thought you
were dead!

The party questions the prisoners and establishes that the evil priest
and priestess, as well as Jola and Mira, are down in the mine.  Also
down there are a bunch of zombies and some dwarves.  The party also
takes a box of cash that the mercenaries have and tie them up while
they figure out the next course of action.

Mercenary: Yeah, that Jola chick was pretty hot, very pregnant
though.  I'd sure like to have been the guy who...
Nigil: Grrr!
Mercenary: Ok, just an observation... hey, wasn't that a half orc baby...
Nigil: Grrr!
Mercenary: Ok, ok, it's none of my business!  You know, we were as
surprised as you when that cathedral fell down.  How did you get out?
Tron: That's for us to know and you not to find out.

Leader: How did you find out we were here?
Sapphire: Some of your men visited a brothel in Anis...
Leader: This is all your fault! (cuffs funny-looking mercenary)
Funny-Looking Mercenary: Um...
Sapphire: You are a sick man!

Aran: You, leader, shout down that it's all clear.  Tell them that you
were attacked by orcs but drove them off.
Leader: No orcs have been stupid enough to attack us, but ok.

He shouts this message down the mineshaft, and there is a muffled "Ok"
in response.

Meanwhile, Norel has collected Desh and the horses, and the others
have searched the fort thoroughly, finding nothing of interest.

Aran: Though some of the horses these guys had are pretty nice...
Desh: Horse yummy.
Aran: No!  Don't eat the heavy warhorse!

Suddenly the elevator is pulled down the shaft.  The party quickly
organizes to cover the elevator building.

Aran: Desh, you watch the prisoners.
Desh: (licks his lips and draws his knife)
Leader: Um, could you have someone watch the boy?

After a few minutes there is a cry of "Hey, what's the problem?" from
the mineshaft.

Tron: Oh, they can't raise the elevator from down there.

Nigil and Aran grab the winch and start raising the elevator, while
Tron and Norel cover the platform with their bows.  The elevator comes
up with two dwarves on it.

Aran: Silence or you die.
Dwarf1: It's a trap! [Dives for a dangling rope and starts to slide
down].
Nigil: Oh heck. [Stab]
Dwarf1: Aggggghhhh...! [spuck]
Dwarf2: I surrender!  Don't kill me!

Aran grabs a dog body and puts it near the shaft, so the blood will
drip down, hopefully fooling anyone below into thinking that the
second dwarf has been killed as well.  They then proceed to
interrogate the captured dwarf, whose name is Ulfrick.  He tells them
that there is another exit from the mine at the base of the hill, and
that Jola and Mira are indeed down there, along with the priest and
priestess, and also a strange man in black armor.

Nigil: Does this man in black armor have a relationship with Jola?
Ulfrick: Well, sometimes he goes into the room where she is and stays
there for a while.
Nigil: Grrr.

Norel: What's with the stone slabs?
Ulfrick: We're using those as flooring for the dungeon we're building
down there.
Nigl: "Building" a dungeon???
Aran: Great, maybe they haven't finished building the traps yet.
Tron: Ok, I want you to draw a map.  And it better be accurate,
because you're going in there with us. Without the elevator working,
there's only one way in or out of that place, and we're going in...

TO BE CONTINUED...