Prymptown Courier - v. 3 no. 7

PRYMPTOWN COURIER

Vol. 3, No. 7 (December 2000)

EDITORIAL

There are some things which my players do very well, and some things that they don't do so well. 

One of the latter is looting.  This came up on the Greytalk listserv just recently, when someone suggested that a scenario hasn't been "played well" if the Player Characters don't "max out" on the Experience Point potential.  A fitting attitude towards tournament play, perhaps, but it doesn't sit well with my idea of story-based campaigning.  And lucky that it doesn't, because my group practically turns down treasure!  Peri's player has been saying for months now that he's going to go swimming in the bay after the treasure he dropped there while escaping from Skull Keep, but hasn't done it yet.  Vlad lost a spellbook to water damage, but still hasn't had his new spellbook waterproofed yet.  I've been taken to task for the low number of magic items the party has found so far, yet I know of a good half-dozen such items which the party could have had if they had searched more diligently or done something differently.

Now, what my players do extremely well is kill my villains.  There was Demonkos in Skull Keep, who everyone assumed was an arch-villain of some sort, but was really just a squad leader who knew when to run away.  He didn't survive his third encounter with my players, though. 

Then there was Beregun Renspa, the pirate master who troubled Barada and Hristo earlier in the campaign, but was fooled by Vlad's illusions upon his return, and was ultimately beheaded by Peri.

Skull Keep also had Boris Kalamanov, the wizard whose wand Vlad is currently enjoying, but he didn't get the chance to become a reoccuring villain because Abe got lucky with his sling stones.  How demeaning for poor Boris -- beaten up by 1st-level PCs, robbed, and carted off to rot in a prison cell. 

I feel even more sympathetic towards the thieves' guildmaster in Prymp, a half-orc cleric/fighter who died so fast no one even got his name.  This time it was Gabriel who kept this guy from getting away to fight another day -- different character, same player. 

My latest effort, Gregorus, debuts in this issue.  I miss him already...  

TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION

Cast:

Enlock, Neutral Good male Oerdian apprentice (1st level magic-user, NPC today).

Barada, Neutral male Flannish mercenary (1st level fighter, NPC today). 

Alexander Petrok, Lawful Neutral male Oerdian protector of Zilchus (1st level paladin variant). 

Perpegilliam Brown, Chaotic Neutral male Hairfoot Hobniz cutpurse (3rd level thief).

Andel Mooriv, Lawful Good male Oerdian acolyte (1st level cleric of Pholtus, NPC today).

Gabriel Lanovastorm, Mentherim-Dwur ("Common Hill") veteran (1st level fighter, NPC today).

Vladamir Kostitov, Lawful Good male Oerdian minor trickster and agent of Prymp's Laird (2nd level

illusionist).

Hristo, Neutral Good male Wesevud ("Central") Noniz ex-town watchman and rogue (1st level fighter/1st level thief). 

And introducing...

Maldrik Moonharvest, Neutral male Oerdian aspirant of Beory (1st level druid).

Coldeven 27, 580 CY.  Earthday.

Hristo awoke early, disappointed to find he was not in the Dream Garden as he had wanted to be.  He settled into his watch after releaving Gabriel.  The night passed uneventfully.

 

Under the still-free town of Prymp, the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle was in the cave complex where they had just captured the rust monster.  The beast was securely tied and being hauled up through the trap door into the cellar of Nemis Coraz's tower.  The laird's advisor stares agape, circling the beast and examining it curiously.  A list of bizarre monsters was rattled off

to Coraz, who declared that for the peace of mind of the populace, it would be better if they never learned such creatures had lived beneath them all these years.

A tunnel or two remain unexplored in the complex below, yet the benefit of using the steel-rusting creature

on the Provincial Army was more seductive.  And then there was another matter to which they needed to attend -- ownership of the seemingly magical sword acquired

from the giant dog-stag monster.  Andel wished to have it to give to his church, but Alex wanted it for himself.  Andel agreed that he would let Alex have it if Andel was given the next magic item the party discovered, regardless of what it was.  Alex delayed the decision,

suggesting that they find out more about the sword first.  Coraz had magic which would let him read the sword's runes, and agreed to memorize it for the following day. 

He also had a spell which would allow him to divine even more knowledge about a magic item, but it required a rare component -- a precious pearl -- which he did not

possess.  It was suggested that Stojko Goldmund, Hristo's father, might possess such a gem.

The rust monster, still tied up and groggy, was left in the cellar of Coraz's tower.  Inquiries as to Barada's

whereabouts -- as he had left earlier from the dungeon when the monster ate his armor -- revealed that he had already left to return to the defending army's camp to

acquire a new suit of armor.  The others planned to return to the camp themselves, find Barada, and report

their success.  The Dwur, Godrum -- who had fought beside them in the caves -- was eager to come with them.

A horrible sight confronted them as they neared the West Gate.  A plume of smoke was rising from within the Old Town Wall, not far from the Gate.  The smoke rose from a familiar landmark -- the shrine of Pelor!  As the heroes ran to investigate, wailing voices could be heard

from a small crowd trying valiantly to extinguish the blaze.  Familiar faces in the crowd included Cassandra Milnov -- priestess of Pelor -- Vlad's sisters-in-law --

Gabrielle and Natalia -- and the carpenter -- Ned Flandev.  The walls of the shrine were charred black and crumbling already.  The building was surely lost, and so the effort

was really being put towards keeping the flames from spreading to the neighboring buildings.  And just a few doors down from the shrine -- the Kostitov household!

The heroes ran closer to help, but seemed at a loss to think of how.  Godrum used his axe to scoop dirt off the street and shovel it towards the fire.  Vlad produced his

waterskin and splashed what water he had on it.  Things looked bad. 

Meanwhile, a safe distance from Prymp, Maldrik the druid was busy with his own agents.  His animals had

told him that there was more movement in the human camp to the south than the one to the north.  Maldrik

could only guess what that meant.  More telling was that he could see a thin column of smoke rising from

within the town's walls.  He might be too late to intervene already, but clearly the time for passive

observation had passed.  He would have to maneuver between the opposing camps without being noticed by either.  Luckily, their patrols did not extend far from

their bases, giving him a good half-mile gap to run through.  He held tight to his pet squirrel, and his

sparrow followed.  Alex had an idea, when he noticed that he was just a

few buildings away from Delfina's Brewery.  The entrances to the brewery were inside a courtyard,

which was separated from the street by a short wall and gate.  But to Alex's luck, the gate swung open

when he tried it.  There was a cart with some barrels on it in the court, but upon examination they all

proved to contain beer or wine.  Alex did not wish to throw such things on a fire.  There was a half-full

rainwater barrel in a corner of the court, and it was this which Alex lugged to the scene of the blaze.  Cassandra spotted the barrel, and ordered Alex to splash it on the

building next to the shrine.  Alex was puzzled, but the other heroes gave him knowing nods, and so Alex did as he was bidden.  And sure enough, the soaking the

neighboring building got saved it from catching fire while the blaze in the shrine burnt itself out.

Cassandra fell to her knees and wept.  Ned screamed like a girl.  When the heroes asked what had happened, Cass told them all which had transpired.  A crowd of

Hextorites brandishing torches had come to the shrine and set it ablaze.  Proud of their work, they had openly bragged that the chapel of Fharlanghn was next.

The street they were on would curve southeast to follow the Old City Wall, and would bring them right into the neighborhood of the chapel.  This section of town was

well-known to all, for this street also led past the Grinning Gargoyle Inn.  Like most of Prymp's businesses,

the inn was closed.  The area outside the inn was not empty, however, as there was a man in brigandine armor loitering outside.  Upon spotting the party, he hoisted

his hand axe into the air and charged them, screaming Hextor's name.      

Some daggers were hurled at the man, but he was done in when he ran into Alex's sword.  Alex dragged his body into the six-foot wide alley between the inn and its

neighboring structure to the south.  Enlock was sent to Prymp Keep to bring reinforcements from the watch.  Then the others continued on.

Maldrik reached the New City and circled round its broken and scattered pallisade.  When he came to a large gap, he found a ditch lined with sharp stakes blocking his path.  It seemed more prudent to backtrack and slip through a narrower hole in the pallisade.  This deposited

him into an alley of the Tannery District.  He tried to gauge where the smoke had been, for it had dissipated as he had approached the town. 

The band had not gone far when they were stopped again.  Outside the boatmen's guildhall were two more

loitering Hextorites.  One had a shield and mace, while the other wore chainmail and was armed with a scimitar.  These too rushed the heroes, and were disposed in the

same manner.  This time they did not bother to hide the bodies, but instead quickened their pace towards their goal.  This brought them even more quickly around a

corner where an ambush waited for them.  Sling stones whizzed past them, hurled by two men guarded by a third armed with a spear.  Andel charged them right away,

while Alex tried to circle around them behind the buildings, and Peri and Vlad hurled daggers at them.  The battle was more difficult to win in part because the heroes

began divided, but also because most of them were still lightly injured from the adventure below in the caves.  Neither Andel nor Vlad had a spell left between them. 

Still, victory was not too long in coming.  Again, they left the losers lying bloodied and dying behind them in the street.  They did not know if they could yet save the

chapel of Fharlanghn, but they did suspect that if they encountered more Hextorites, there would be four of

them...

Four Hextorites were reveling in the fact that the chapel of Fharlanghn was burning.  Three still held their torches.  The fourth was a scimitar-wielding cleric.  This battle hardly slowed them down, but the chapel was already lost.  Luckily, the chapel stood in an area by itself, and no

neighboring buildings caught fire.  The fire had taken two casualties.  Elijah Dawnriser was just unconscious, but Gershom Walker -- whom Peri had once invited to join the

band -- was dead, his body charred.   

Dawnriser was bundled up and carried back the way they had come.  Reinforcements were supposed to be coming but were no where to be seen yet.  It did not take long to find them, as they were being lead south by Enlock through the street of dead and dying Hextorites.  Enlock explained that his request for help was turned down at Prymp Keep, and he could not find help until he went to

the Garrison and pulled half his men stationed to watch the entrance to accompany him.  That gave them five extra men, though now it looked like all they could do to

help was pick up the bodies.  Still, it was decided that -- to be on the safe side -- they would check the chapels on the other side of town and make sure they were

undamaged.

Maldrik had reached the South Gate leading into the Old

City of Prymp, but he was turned away by the guards

who threatened to stab him with a spear if he kept

loitering there.  Maldrik did not tempt them farther, and

instead circled the wall counter-clockwise to find a safer

entrance.

On their way to the chapel of Zilchus, sure enough, there

was a party of Hextorites standing halfway between that

chapel and the neighboring chapel of Pholtus.  Peri

volunteered to sneak around to the entrance of the

Zilchus chapel while the others watched the Hextorites

from hiding.

It didn't take Alex long to recognize the leader of the

Hextorite party, though it was not anyone he would have

expected.  Hovard Fatev was an officer of the town

watch.

Peri found the templar, Aaron, guarding the chapel of

Zilchus.  It wasn't hard for Peri's "frantic" routine to

convince Aaron to take command of two acolytes and

follow him.

Outside, Alex led his band up to Hovard's band.  Hovard

greeted him as a potential ally, but Alex soon made it

clear that was not so.  Hovard gloated that there was

nothing they could do to stop them, as their "master" had

arrived.  When diplomacy failed, the two sides took to

combat.  Hovard and his men were well-armed and

armored, and the battle might have gone against the party

had Peri not shown up with his reinforcements on

Hovard's flank.  Still, by battle's end, Andel was

unconscious and Peri was critically wounded.  Only the

healing miracles of the acolytes of Zilchus saved those

two.  The thought of this was more than the Pholtus-

loving Andel could bear, and he rushed off to his own

chapel to be cleansed of Zilchus' taint.  Hovard was

forced to surrender, and the Grinning Gargoyle Band

marched him back to Prymp Keep like a trophy.

Maldrik found himself now by the East Gate into town,

but had no better luck with the guards stationed there. 

He decided to camp out between a building and the

curtain wall, not far from the naval docks.  It was from

this vantage point that he saw a long iron cylinder on a

wheeled platform being moved from the small keep by

the docks west through the burned-down Dock District. 

This could only be a weapon of war such as Maldrik had

heard only heard rumors of -- a bombard, or canon.  It

was under heavy guard, too.  Maldrik followed them at a

discreet distance for awhile, watching them clear debris

for the canon as they rolled it across town.  Maldrik

decided it was safer to go back to where he had been

hiding.

Given the situation outside town, Prymp Keep was

manned by a skeleton crew led by Castellan Kesley

Evodol.  She regretted not being able to spare the

manpower to assist Enlock earlier.  Hovard was taken into

custody.  The party planned to report this affair to the

defenders' camp, but Kesley told them this wouldn't be

possible.  The Graf's Garrison had taken possession of all

gates leading into the Old City.

The party's worst fears about the Garrison had come true.

They had sided with the enemy.  This was something

which would have to be dealt with...tomorrow...after

everyone had been given time to heal.  They would need

help, though, so they requested assistance.  Kesley asked

if they could take the Garrison with 20 men, and Alex said

yes.

Later, that afternoon, Gabriel asked Hristo for his

impression of the rest of the Grinning Gargoyle Band.  

The weather was idyllic for traveling, and luckily Gabriel

seemed to know which direction to go.  They passed

some ducks, but met no one. 

Later, after dusk, Maldrik decided to infiltrate the Old

City.  Since the gates were inaccessible, he decided to

try something drastic.  He grabbed ahold of the curtain

wall and started looking for footholds.  Slowly, he began

to scale its surface.  Through some miracle, despite the

fact he had never climbed a vertical wall before, he was

successful at climbing 20 feet straight up.  He rested on

top of the wall, a safe distance from a patrol, and then

lowered himself down the other side.  Beory herself

must have been aiding him, because he actually made it

all the way to the ground safely.  He began wandering

about until he met a street patrol who informed him hotly

about the curfew.  Maldrik told them he had come to join

the army, which apparently stirred the watchmen's

patriotism and they let him go.  Maldrik wandered some

more until he found himself before the chapel of Pholtus. 

Needing a place to spend the night, he decided to seek

sanctuary inside.

A giant of a cleric greeted Maldrik, and asked him if he

had come to pray.  He led Maldrik to the altar, where

Maldrik kneeled and showed reverence to Pholtus. 

When the druid was done, the cleric showed him to a

series of writing cells in which other townspeople were

huddled on the floor sleeping.  Maldrik was given some

empty space, where he drifted off into slumber.

Coldeven 28, 580 CY.  Freeday.

Peri was awake again, but was weak as a kitten from his

injuries.  He wandered off from Prymp Keep to go visit

Nemis Coraz as the others prepared for war.

Hristo and Gabriel continued their trek back to Prymp. 

They found they were having an easier time today, as

they were moving more northerly, which was downhill. 

They walked all day.  Later, they came across a spring-

fed creek, probably the source of Burgas Creek which

flowed down to the bay between Prymp and the village

of Balay.  A tall blue heron was drinking from the spring. 

 

The Band of the Grinning Gargoyle led 20 soldiers to the

gates of the Garrison.  Across the street behind them

were 10 more soldiers Enlock had left stationed there to

guard the entrance.  The Band didn't even bother to

check on them.  Vlad asked Alex to clarify the plan.  It

was to rush in and take the Garrison.  No one objected

out loud.  There was no time to discuss it further.  If the

plan was to work, it would need the elements of surprise

and speed.  The portcullis was up, and a short tunnel

led under the gatehouse into the courtyard.  Two

guards were visible on the wall.  The watch archers fired

on them.

The portcullis started to lower immediately.  Alex, Vlad,

and a few others made it through.  As a firefight ensued

outside, the doors at the end of the tunnel began to

close.  Alex reached them first and wedged himself into

the doorway.  He and Vlad managed to slip through. 

About a dozen guardsmen were loitering there.  Alex

and Vlad immediately rushed through a door to the right,

which Vlad knew led to the winch that raised the

portcullis.  The winch room was guarded, but Vlad took

them out quickly with a Color Spray spell.  The two of

them raised the portcullis so that the rest could follow. 

Through arrow slits, they were able to watch the watch-

men rush in, but get stopped at the double doors which

were now closed.  Murder holes above the tunnel began

dropping rocks and burning oil.  The watchmen were

dying fast.  One was flung against the arrow slit,

mouthing "why?" with the last of his strength.

At the chapel of Pholtus, Maldrik awoke to the sound of

a man in armor running down the hallway.  It was the

man from last night, who was saying to himself,

"They're attacking the Garrison without me!"  Curious,

Maldrik followed Andel Mooriv.

Peri found himself at the front door of Nemis Coraz's

tower.  The Laird's advisor greeted Peri cordially and

invited him in. 

At the Garrison, Alex and Vlad flung themselves back

into the courtyard.  They had to get the gate open again

at all costs before their men were all dead.  Vlad heaved

the bars off the doors while Alex guarded his back,

fending off three men with long spears.  Most of the

watchmen had fallen under the gatehouse, but now Vlad

and Alex had at least some help.  There were three ranks

of guardsmen; the spearmen, swordsmen, and javelin

throwers waiting for an opening.  Vlad thought the

javelin throwers posed a threat and took them out with

his last Color Spray spell.  Alex and the remaining

watchmen meleed the guardsmen.

Outside, Andel and Maldrik had just arrived, and Andel

stormed through the gatehouse to join the fray.  Maldrik

remained outside.  Swept up in the activity, Maldrik

started helping the archers outside pick off guards from

the wall with his sling. 

Peri spoke openly with Nemis Coraz about his plans.  He

was heading south with Vlad and maybe one or two

others of the Band to reach Hexpools.  Nemis shifted in

his seat uncomfortably, and then he told Peri something

which he felt Peri deserved to know.  Peri's father,

Marcus Brown, was not really missing, as Peri had long

thought.  Marcus was a local "secret agent" who had

done services for both the Graf of this region and the

Laird of Prymp from time to time.  Marcus was on a

mission to Hexpools, where he was to improve relations

between Prymp and Hexpools.  Marcus was "missing,"

however, in the sense that he had never reported back

since reaching Hexpools.

The Watchmen were dropping one at a time.  Barada,

who had survived the murder hole bombardment, was

dropped by friendly fire from his comrades.  Alex, Vlad,

Andel, and a few Watchmen were still standing, with the

unknown Maldrik still outside.

And then a three-armed man appeared.  Andel thought

he had heard of such a man before.  The man was clad in

platemail armor and held a scimitar and two buckler

shields.  The man boldly wore the symbol of Hextor

upon his chest.  Vlad brought his magic wand to bear,

but was brought down by a guardsman before being

able to use it.  Alex charged the Hextorite, as Andel

pulled Vlad and Barada out of danger.  As they fought,

the three-armed cleric spoke civily to Alex, whom he

recognized as a worthy opponent, and identified

himself as Gregorus, unholy champion of Hextor. 

And then things got worse.  From out of the main

building came three reinforcements.  One of them was

their old enemy, Beregun Renspa.  No longer a prisoner

of the guardsmen, Renspa was apparently leading the

insurrection.  Maldrik entered just in time to cast an

Entangle spell which left one of the guards flanking

Renspa trapped when the grass clutched at his feet.

Renspa lept over the ensorcelled grass and cleared 10

feet.  He was in melee in no time.  Gregorus asked to

have Alex for himself, leaving Renspa to pick off the

others.

But by now, Peri had left Coraz's tower in a huff.  Feeling

betrayed by lies, he was eager to reach the Garrison and

see if there was any fighting left to engage in.  To his

surprise, Alex, Andel, and a stranger with a sickle were

fighting alone against a three-armed man and Beregun

Renspa.  The dead and the dying littered the ground all

around them.  Peri snuck around Renspa and

backstabbed him with a thrown dagger.  Then Peri

began verbally baiting him, and hurled caltrops in his

way.  Renspa's fabulous new leaping ability rendered

the caltrops useless, but Renspa was lured away from

the others. 

It was not enough to save Andel, who went down from

a swipe of Gregorus' scimitar.  Gregorus was now asking

for help with Alex.  Neither was seriously hurting the

other, but the battle was raging for over 15 minutes, and

both combattants were on the verge of collapsing from

exhaustion.  And Gregorus was fighting two to one

against both Alex and Maldrik.  Maldrik was landing

some swings which were nicking the Hextorite.

Peri tumbled out of Renspa's way, and tried to keep

throwing daggers.  Finally, he wore Renspa down until

the one-time pirate master was defeated.  Peri decided to

cut off his head to lower the morale of the three-armed

foe. 

Surrounded by three opponents now, and not winning,

Gregorus surrendered.  He explained that he was an

important envoy from the See of Medegia, and that they

had earned powerful enemies. 

The remaining guardsmen had not been willing members

of the insurrection, and they rescued Senator Gart

Barlos and Castellan Adam Belkos who had been locked

up when a dissatisfied contingent of guards had

followed Renspa in rebellion. 

Acolytes of Zilchus arrived to heal the wounded.  For

the second time that day Andel was divinely aided by

Zilchus.  Infuriated, Andel waited around barely long

enough to hear the results of a Detect Magic spell on

Renspa's equipment.  The broadsword he had used in

combat was magical, and it was given to Andel to give

to the chapel of Pholtus.  Andel left at once to deliver it,

and wash the taint of Zilchus from his skin.  Renspa's

magic boots had several party members salivating, but

ultimately they were reserved for Enlock.  Renspa's

gauntlets were also magical, and Peri claimed them. 

They magically shrank to fit, and Peri felt stronger than

ever. 

It turned out to be a good thing that the party had not

tried to return to the defenders' camp, as they soon

learned the gates leading in and out of town had been

taken over by the guardsmen.  One such guard had been

Marcus Kostitov Jr., Vlad's eldest brother. 

Later that night, at the defender's camp, word began to

spread that activity had been spied at the attackers'

camp.  The Provincial Army had packed up, and was

moving away to the west.  Prymp seemed safe at last,

but the direction of the retreating army was taking them

towards the neighboring town of Porton...

TO BE CONTINUED

DUNOLD'S STORY

(cont. from Vol. 3, No. 2)

Dunold's eyes seemed to be searching about the somber

bedchamber, and his mouth opened and closed in silent

words.  Kentol Ahkpov thought his duty here was

nearly complete, but just as suddenly as it had started,

the elderly Dunold sat up on his deathbed.

"Ivan!"  came a hoarse little scream from Dunold's

throat.  "How could you have thought such of me?" 

The strength flowed out of Dunold and he sank back

into the sheets, the breath rasping out of him.  "I was

stunned when I saw it was Ivan who was following me,

and before I could think of anything to say he had

pushed me against the wall of the building we were by,

and had his short sword pointed against my stomach!

"'I never would have suspected you, Dunold!'  he

hissed at me.  His eyes were full of malice and I knew

at once my life was in danger and this was no prank.

'If you had but kept your mouth shut in the inn

tonight,' he continued, 'you might have lived to see

the dawn...' 

"'Ivan, stop!' I cried, 'I've done nothing!'  But for all

the protestations I might have made, his features

showed a grim resolve which could only have ended

in my death -- or so it would have had there not come

the sickening whistle of an arrow in flight, which

instantly made Ivan convulse in pain and draw away

from me.  He writhed in agony before my eyes, and I

saw the dooming arrow itself as he spun about in a

hopeless struggle to grasp the offending object.  I

started to reach out to help him, but the sword was

still in his hand and he was waving it about frantically.

And then I noticed others, menacing strangers,

drawing nearer.  No, not entirely strange to me after

all, for when they drew close enough, I noticed

several familiar faces which belonged to watchmen!

Then one put his sword to Ivan and ended his life

before me.  I cried out in anger, but before I could do

nmore the men were pressed up against me, smothering

my mouth with gloved hands.  I stood there, raging

impotently, for only a few minutes before the

hopelessness of my situation overwhelmed me.  My

tense body went limp as my desire to avenge Ivan

drained out of me.  When the men backed off a pace,

but still surrounded me, I just stood there.  It was the

first serious act of betrayal of my life.

"'That man died because he worked to expose us,' said

one of them.  'And you shall die as well if your yelling

brings the watch on us before we are done.  But we will

offer you this one chance to save ourselves.  Join us in

the liberation of Prymp, or die.' 

"All I could do was ask how.  The man continued, 'meet

us in the courtyard of Prymp Keep tomorrow night, one

hour after dusk.  Tell no one.'  And with that they

scattered.  One of the last to leave paused too long and

I was able to discern his face.  It was Vander, who had

sat with us all through supper.

"I walked through the next day as if in my sleep.  I did

as I had been told and told no one.  At one point, I had

even convinced myself that the whole affair had been

some fevered dream.  Yet when the time arrived, I was

there in the courtyard, waiting to see what fate was in

store for me.  What came were several men who looked

all too familiar to me.  They motioned for me to be silent

until there was no one else within earshot, and only

then did they speak to me.

"'You were spared,' they explained to me, 'because of

your own sense of moral outrage at what we endure

here.  Like you, we enrolled here as mercenaries, and

became slaves to the Watch Masters.  Our salaries are

whatever bribes we can take.  Death is the punishment

for any offense, and even the reverence of the god of

our choice can be such an offense -- as you saw the

other day.'

"'What would you have me do?' I asked them.  And

then they sketched out the outline of a plot to me -- a

plot to assassinate one of the Watch Masters. 

TO BE CONCLUDED?