66) Got lucky. Rogan arrived and I was able to talk him into doin' the trojan corpse. He wants the six of Sword card bad enough that he is game. Much to the dismay of Cha-kan though, we first have to enter some maze and snatch some sword before tryin' it.

Rogan gave more information about his time in Tradegate, sayin' that there were 78 pawns chosen in which he was one of 'em. Some of 'em are good, some are bad, some are random and some are chosen. They relate anyhow to the 78 tarot cards and to Rogan, this is important. In his stay in Tradegate, he met some fruitcake and picked up an important prediction tidbit that sounds like a bunch of fishcrap to me.

"Take care, thou Two of Runes.

One of Bad Luck is close at hand,

That card will be reachin' Sigel soon

& then Nine's Nightmares will walk the land."

Those nightmare's last night were only the jitters and had nothin' to do with Rogan's prediction - at least I HOPE so. At least we haven't had anymore run ins with the dancin' man. I'm tired of hearin' about the flies in my mind.

Info on Rogan's maze. It is his initiation process to enter the Fated. Civis the Githranki, told him he had to fetch Lightbringer from Timin inside this maze. Timin was the Factal leader of the Expansionists until he (they?) tried to overthrow the Lady of Pain and she caught him (them?). She murdered 'em all but threw Timin into an unbeatable maze from which no one has ever returned to tell about it. So... we leave shortly.

Civis must be a few maggots short of a full corpse. I think in his near-death, someone leaked his brains out the back side of his skull... and Rogan, that damp piece of feces, can't he see this whole thin' is unimportant? Why be a fated when there's lots of money to be had if we find the Indepth cure?

Gettin' in is suppose to be easy. Find the Gatehouse, turn into an alley past the Inn of the Roarin' Beylor, enter at the blue portal. Gettin' out though, is much tougher. Rogan claims we have to take a dish and leave durin' a meal. How the food gets in, is not important. This makes sense? What are we impersonatin'? The Waitin' Staff of the Maze? I think he's actin' like a loon that has been underwater too long but if the Captain's goin', so am I.

67) Dagger. The one that Elith had on his side. Valas shared a peak at it with us. Its slightly oversized and made from rusty iron. Its an elaborate artwork form though, appearin' as if a rat has his tail wrapped around an apple core. Though I couldn't quite tell, Valas assured us it had Abjuration/Alteration magic that is normal in magical weapons but also contained some Necromantic and Summonin' magic which proved very 'fascinatin'' to him. Oh well - he said he would hold it for now which works fine for me - I suck at daggers and its kind of creepy lookin'.

Speakin' of Valas (is it better grammar to say "Writin' of Valas?" if one is writin'?) he has a new costume that puts my own disguisin' ability to shame. I almost freaked when he came down the stairs except for he (it?) was with Lilah. Apparently there are some expert costume designers around the area and one of 'em has given a big ugly white bug outfit to Valas - complete with nasty pincher-like face. Lilah gave it some technical name but from what I gathered, its what an Ice Devil looks like - YUCK. Mental Note: Even though Valas isn't emanatin' heat now... stay clear.

67) Well, here we are, sittin' around in the maze debatin' what to do. We found Timin and he is as stupid as a brick. Hmmm - after meetin' some of the bricks in Beyator though, maybe that isn't a correct statement. There might have been some rather swift bricks there and their bein' a cubic rock didn't really relate to their brainpower...

Point is, we're here. Gettin' here wasn't that tough. We easily dodged Red Guard patrols and skulked into the Hive. On the way, we strode through the shadows of the Gatehouse. Its the Bleaker headquarters. Its on a slight hill off of Bedlane Run in an old "gatehouse" which the Bleakers took approximately 500 years ago. There are several wings which spawn out from the main tower. The entry gate is a giant portcullis over 100' tall with 5' diameter bars. What USED to live here... giants and titans? The atmosphere around it reminded me of a depressin' circus - with artists, entertainers and performers. They were all just downcast and depressed in their forms of display... one could even say "bleak" considerin' the inhabitants.

The Tavern of the Roarin' Balor was easy to find. Too easy. There was a horrid picture of a tall, wretched lookin' demon. We didn't even stop. The alley behind it was easy to find along with the blue door. There was a rather disgustin' ogre hand though, danglin' from the door, complete with maggots and rottin' flesh. This was the doorhandle. Cha-kan shook it and several grubs came off on his hand but he quickly brushed 'em off. Rogan opened the door and then took out a gold plated rose and dipped it in a honey-smellin' sauce and slowly walked inside the maze. We followed close. So close we were trippin' on eachother.

The rooms and paths inside were all made of solid stone. Someone with a sick sense of humor had put on stone window frames (with no view) along with other strange rooms. It takes all kinds to think this stuff up and the person that made it had either a lot of time or was a few bricks short of a full road. Then again, Balor's road was always losin' bricks.

There was a very claustrophobic room with a worn spot in the center. Another looked like a city street storefront (except with an overhead ceilin'). One room was icy cold with barrels and crates (and a hacked corpse). We even found one room with a sin'le cot and mattress. Underneath the mattress was a small compartment with a longsword in it. The blade was titled "Lightbrin'er" and whenever anyone said that, the sword glowed feabily. Not what I had expected of an intelligent all powerful sword of destruction but hey, each to their own. This room also had a chest I was able to rifle some clothes from; includin' a snazzy swordsman's shirt, calf-length ti-pants, knee high leather boots and a leather vest. All of it was black. I think I can modify 'em too to fit, well... all but the boots.

Soon we ran across this 6'4" tall, 250 pound human male dressed in clothin' much the same as we found in the chest. He seemed to be a bit stupid or maybe just really confused. He said he was Timin and he was wavin' this big bright white glowin' sword. Now THAT'S a sword. Anyone wavin' around a blade like that can call himself whatever he likes in my book.

We all talked it over and he showed us the big statue of the Lady of Pain. She ain't pretty either. Her head is made from what appear to be compiled blades. She has a bluish/black tin'e to her entire (metallic) skin. Perhaps sayin' she ain't pretty isn't quite right. She is as exquisite as a collection of royal guard halberds. Wondrous to look at but not somethin' anyone in their right mind would want to play/touch/mess with.

The basic argument flyin' around is the maze will collapse if Timin leaves. If he leaves and the maze collapses, the portal will explode lettin' the Lady know Timin has escaped. As he has been here a thousand years or so, she would be rather peeved and would take it out on the ones that released him. Killraven, though, doesn't want to leave him imprisoned anymore... what the... (irrrecognizable scribble)

68) Back now. Six Harmonium guards just broke into the room and assaulted us. The leader guy cast that same spell that the mage from the Hammer and Anvil put on me. My limbs froze solid. Bites the fleas on a bat's ass. I was able to witness Lilah shakin' her hands and mumblin' some words. The area underneath the guards then filled with a greasy substance causin' several of 'em to stumble and fall... but could I move? No. Ain't that just a landlocked sailor's luck?

Lilah a mage? Rat's phallus. I'd hate to have to shoot her now. I did say I would shoot more mages though. Killraven, Cha-kan and Hugh finished 'em off. They kept the cleric one that slung spells at us alive by bindin' his wounds. Cha-kan and Valas have been questionin' him and plan on killin' him as soon as he is done talkin'.

Now, I've got a peeve with him and wouldn't mind his soul goin' to the elemental plane of lower puds but when it comes down to it, that's cold blooded murder. To die in battle is one thin', to die after bein' interrogated and tellin' the necessary information is another. He ain't deservin' of such a fate even if he does wear the red armor and carry the badge. He's got a home, he's got family. I bet he even has a few drinkin' buddies and some random vices. I'm tryin' to work up a pledge from him to not inform his hi-ups about us and we'll let him go free. I think I've got Cha-kan, Hugh and Lilah goin' for it but I don't know about Rogan. Killraven I can bargain with as I won't stand against him lettin' Timin out.

The Red Gaurd had a warrant for our arrest too. Well, maybe our ego is a bit large. The document actually stated "Notary Thew Camery and Squad are authorized to enter the maze and arrest/execute any attemptin' to free the Expansionist Timlin." It was signed by Tonat Shar, Mover 5 of the Harmonium. Mental Note: Find out how they knew we were goin' to be here at this time...

69) Back in the Doomgaurd Armory now. Cha-kan is chattin' it up with Hugh and the two of 'em are rampagin' around his room tryin' to find somethin'. Beats me. I'm just happy to be out of the maze. Not that it matters anymore as it doesn't exist.

After quizzin' the Harmonia, I accepted his oath (on his faction) that he wouldn't hold retribution against us or tattle. I'm trustin' him because I believe it is their way to keep their word... on the other hand, I couldn't just let anyone in the group kill him as he was. I've never been a cold blooded murderer and won't start now - nor will I let my companions do that right in front of me. It just ain't right and he was only doin' his job even if it is a rottin' one.

Gettin' to the exit portal was easy. We went through in two groups. The first group, to which I was a part of, consisted of Lilah, Cha-kan, Hugh, myself and the Harmonium. We took a food dish and touched it to the portal and it opened right up. We appeared outside that Roarin' Balor bar and crashed into the ground. Hurt too. Next thin' I knew, Cha-kan was tellin' the Harmonium to run and tell his supervisor that Timin would be out shortly and to remember his promise to us. He said he would and took off runnin'. I scanned my companions. Lilah looked downcast but acceptin'. Hugh and Cha-kan were indifferent - entopic folk that they are. Rogan though, got this weird look in his eyes and pulled up a couple of knives. I was gettin' rather tired of his piss poor attitude and just tackled him to the ground. I didn't know who he was plannin' on pluggin' with those blades but he wasn't goin' to break my word by killin' that guard.

By the time the two of us got back up and Rogan stopped cussin' me that Harmonium was down the street and gone. Cha-kan dragged us off to hide in a nearby alley where I slipped into my Flynne disguise (it was rainin' in the Hive and I could feel my zebra stripped skin paint startin' to run). Soon this soft boom occurred around the other side of the buildin'. We all took a peak and there was Killraven, Valas and Timin standin' rather stunned at the back of the Roarin' Balor. The top portion of the Tavern was crumpled and smokin'. Yeah - the portal was gone now for sure. Only the Lady could put it back and meetin' up with her was a bad idea so we sprinted on out. Cha-kan runs up to Timin though I couldn't hear what he said (his back was to me and it was rainin') but I could see Timin's mouth movin' quite well. He almost looked intelligent too (maybe he was fakin' inside...or under some spell...?). He said somethin' like:

"You've done a great service for the Expansionists. If you ever need a friend, come to the City of Rigeous. Is the Withered VineTavern still found in the Bazaar?"

Then he just flew off down the street... which was an excellent idea; the rest of us split into three groups and also took off. Cha-kan, Hugh and myself all made it without a bit of trouble back to the Armory. I just wish I knew what Cha-kan was lookin' for. Mental Note: The Captain has offered to teach me Karate and I think I'm goin' to take him up on it. He says its for my own good as I pretty much have no tact in close quarters but do fight like a hellion.

70) Quick few moments. Back in Black Sails room. No new notes - this is good. Lilah will be comin' soon and I've got to set her up lookin' like Loki. The Captain's thinkin' it would be good to leave for the Elemental Plane or wherever it is NOW - before the Lady of Pain can figure out who released Timin or where we are. If she is half as nasty as she looks - his thinkin' is sound. Glad I'm not the trojan corpse though.

Everyone is preppin' downstairs though at two separate tables last I saw. The first one had Rogan and Civis the Githranki while the second had everyone else. I didn't find it very amusin' when Civis strode in so I left the main table and got a new one. Soon, Lilah joined me with a deck of cards. Next it was Hugh and finally the Captain. Seems I started a trend by avoidin' mindreaders. I did put myself in a great position though, to read Rogan's replies to whatever Civis was projectin' as well as Cha-kan's words before he joined us. Granted, it made the conversation rather one sided, but I did find the followin' lines quite interestin'.

"Nice test - Why were the Harmonia there..."

"How much sword worth now?"

"He and sword are free. Still in possession."

"That would be his choice. What do you want in return for the sword?"

"I have no claim to the sword - don't crave the attention or the power."

All of those were from the Captain. He seemed to be doin' the major talkin'. Then he pointed to Rogan and got up and came to our table. Almost got in my way too but I luckily moved and picked up Rogan's conversation.

"As we discussed earlier, I wish to make my own merits." "Replace information for one favor to be reclaimed at other time in future."

"Yes" then he laughed and nodded while verbally respondin' that he agreed.

"Sponsorship" and "It is indeed worthwhile".

Next thin' I know, Civis leaves and almost runs over Valas and Killraven as they arrive at the door. Rogan gave Civis the weaker Lightbrin'er and it turns out that Killraven has the real thin' on his back. Great. If folks find out we're carryin' the Supreme Destruction Sword of the Universe (or somethin' like that) everyone is gonna want a piece of our butts. I did get to touch it though - I can actually say I touched the hilt of such a powerful item, though it doesn't LOOK that all powerful just sittin' in a scabbard. Whoops - Lilah is here. Gotta get to work...

71) We're sittin' now in a white temple (of good I suspect) of some unknown god. I'm sure if I wanted to know I could find out but I just don't have the cravin'. I want to go home - beaten bulleywog balls I would be happy back in Sigel at this point in time. The white temple is also in the Elemental Plane of Fire, in some oasis fortress where its bloody well hot. If I was still dressed as Zhao-pin' it wouldn't be zebra stripped colored skin - it would be a runny mess. Good for a disguise though... Mental Note: Check into deformed disguises next...even undead.

Gettin' to the Elemental Plane of Fire was a bit more difficult than expected. We all arrived back at the Armory an hour later or so and soon met up with Doomlord Mal.

He is a very tall older man with red hair and bat ears. Several portions of his hair have gone the way of age, showin' minor grey streaks. He's dressed in mostly black cloths with a grey wool vest. He also has a large red broadsword at his side. He looks like the kind of man whom sleep has not been a regular nighttime companion for some time. I suspect he is of the same background as Lilah: a tiflin', but he seems to have different aspects than she does. Mental Note: Find out just WHAT a tiflin' really is...

The Factial leader looked at Rogan, asked if we were all in agreement and then bopped him in the forehead with his palm. It wasn't even a very hard hit but Rogan slumped like an old sack of potatoes. Lilah and I snatched his body up and with Hugh's help, set off for the Mortuary. Hugh needed a slight work over on his disguise and attitudes though. He acted a bit too stiff to be a simple collector. Lilah handled it perfectly. I did get the satisfaction though of draggin' Rogan such that his head banged several times on the steps goin' down - good satisfaction from him almost killin' my Harmonium prisoner. Heh. Bet he's still got a splittin' headache.

When we got to the Mortuary, we dawdled a bit around the back side before bein' let in. The guards wanted to take the corpse but I told 'em we were new and wanted to see it go all the way and be paid direct. He let us drag Rogan inside and into the main portal room. Cha-kan and Valas, dressed as Dustmen, brought Killraven in as their maimed zombie. They claimed they were lookin' for good parts. We started a brief argument as they couldn't touch the corpse until we got paid and it lasted easily until Taranna arrived. Up until then, thin's were goin' fairly well. Then Taranna stuffed a red bead up Rogan's right nostril and had Killraven toss him into the Portal of Elemental Fire (4th one from left). Cha-kan thought this was a mite bit unusual and snatched her pouch, tossed the beads in the air while strugglin' to get one himself. The group of us followed his lead, stuffin' beads in our nostrils and jumpin' into the portal. It sucked sheep shit. This large wave of heat stoked our bodies but we landed on a rock ledge. I'll bet though, Valas enjoyed it.

The rock ledge continued up to a stairway and then wrapped around the side of a huge stone wall. Over the side and all around us, flames sprang up. It was as if we were on a rock island in a lake of fire. There were also four guards on the stairway that demanded our immediate surrender. Perhaps in retrospect it wouldn't have been a bad idea but of course, hindsight is better than a half-starved hawk on a clear day. I plugged the first guard, the one with the mace that looked like a leader type and he retaliated by tellin' me to "jump".

I have no idea why I listen to these people. Every muscle in my body screamed at the stupidity of it and I even tried to mentally convince myself not too but it was like tryin' to empty a bucket underwater. I leaped right off the edge. As I was jumpin' though, I spotted Killraven sprout win's and shoot by me. He missed me and I missed him. Figures. Everythin' then just slowed down. The drop seemed to take forever. I saw a metal chain whip past me but it missed and I again, missed it. Next thin' I know, I hear this "Gavin - LOAD A BOLT!" scream from above. My mind is twirlin' away with its last thoughts thinkin' it would be better to just go stark screamin' mad instead but for whatever reason I didn't. Maybe I thought it would distract me from the approachin' flames. By the time I get all set and loaded, Cha-kan done sailed right by me with that admantium grapplin' bolt in his hand. Now THAT is a Captain - one willin' to jump into the Elemental Plane of Fire for his crew. Heh and I thought the River of Blood was bad. I got the bolt, fired it up and it slammed into the underside of the fortress and thankfully, it held. After a rather wretched jerkin' halt, the two of us were left danglin' over the flames. I could smell the leather on my boots slowly fryin' like a marshmallow over a campfire... 'ceptin' of course this was one BIG campfire and I was more of a fish on a stick.

The Captain then done yells out "Climb!" and I'm noddin' my head agreein' with him like I got a lose pinion in my skull. Silly comment on his part - like we had a choice? The only other choice was to sit, wait and have a cookout with a Fire Elemental. We climbed. Hard. Fast. A lot. Half way up we were almost knocked from our rickety perch as one of the guards sailed over the side. I twitched the rope away from his hands - we had enough weight on this life anchor. I only wished it was the same cleric that told me to jump. Soon we were at the top part of the underside and I wasn't hearin' any more noises of fightin'. The Captain and I were lookin' at eachother wonderin' whom won. He pulls out a full size grapple and swung it back and forth eventually castin' it up like a fishin' lure on top of the ledge above us. I remember goin' into slight hysterics while climbin'. I dunno if the Captain overheard me or not, but I was bitchin' and moanin' about feelin' like a fish over a fryer and complainin' why it couldn't be water... I think I said "At least I can breath water..." to which the Captain didn't respond.

When we finally reached the top, we found our companions won. Rogan was still in slumber fake-death land. The cleric was layin' dead on his back and Killraven looked normal. Maybe I just imagined him change. Anyway, I went full hysterical at this point and beat on the cleric body. I snatched up his mace (which I still have, nice weapon that it is) and mashed his head into a pile of mush. Usually I'm not that violent but there are just limits to sanity. Crushin' his skill to splinters seemed the sane thin' to do. The Captain just walked over and started pickin' at a food spot in his teeth - like nothin' happened. Yeah, he may look funny but that Captain ain't never goin' to have trouble pickin' up a crew if I'm in charge of recruitin'...

The guards had a symbol around their necks that looked like an eye with a triangle and candle flame on it. None of us had ever seen it before but Valas was willin' to bet it was for that Lathander god. I took one and put it around my neck. Why not? Its a disguise of sorts.

Rogan awoke about this time. The group of us then strode off up the stairs. I was leadin' for some silly reason - mostly to get away from the ledge as quickly as possible. Near the top, some Hobgoblins tried to question us. I just looked at 'em and told 'em to bugger off as we were on official business. Guess my tone of voice was rather nasty, of course, I had been roastin' over the flames of the Elemental Plane of Fire. My testiness was rather justified. They (wisely) let us pass.

Anyway, long story short, we passed several rooms. Found a big door that some near obscene hand gesture let us pass, found a feast room, avoided several guards and traps and eventually found ourselves in a white marble temple room. It was a good place for a break exceptin' there were several guards and a few priests there. They had some ceremony goin' and as we had interrupted 'em, guess they were testy too. One of the priests told the guards to kill us and next thin' I know we were knee deep in combat. Killraven took one down per hit, rat's breath, he is a tough bugger. Though I tagged one cleric with a bolt, I thankfully still haven't killed more than that one messenger boy that I accidently mugged a bit too hard. Looks like we are goin' to do some lootin' soon then move out. Wish we knew where this card was exactly. Wanderin' and hopin' isn't goin' to cut it I'm bettin'.