The battle at the tower goes on, with the dire wolf shaking itself free from the web, teeth stained in blood from its last kill. Leshanna, seeing the wolf and nearby thug freeing themselves from the dissolving web, hurls a bubble of acid from the window, intensifying the necrotic damage the human is already experiencing. It’s an ugly sight.

Gunther aims his heavy crossbow at the wolf, landing the arrow in the centre of its forehead, right between the ears. The wolf lets out a howl of pain and rage, waggling its head to try to dislodge the arrow, without success. Gunther, very pleased with himself yet again, pokes his head further out the window and, mocking, calls out a long “Meow!”. There is nothing as enticing to a cat than taunting a dog.

The last breaths of the creatures downstairs are imminent, though the adventurers are not amongst the dead, not for today anyway. Drama, naturally, is never far. Upstairs, the air crackles with electricity and a cloaked figure drops out of nowhere onto the wooden floor.

The cloaked figure pulls one unsuspecting youth by the throat, digging the blunt end of a knife into his cheek, saying, “Ok, that is quite enough of this.” At the sound, the upstairs gang all swing around, surprised to see a new presence.

The cloaked figure suddenly looks a little harder at Gunther. “Dog? Is that you dog? What have you got yourself into here!” The gang all turns to look in turn at Gunther, then back at the figure calling him Dog, then back to Gunther. They both seem equally surprised to see each other.

The cloaked figure is an old acquaintance of Gunther’s from when they were both at Waterdeep Prison, Vax Wryth.

“We have a problem,” Vax says. “I need these boys and it’s better you don’t know why.” Vax is not giving anything away. Leshanna feels ill at the revelation of prison buddyhood between Vax and Gunther, sick at the prospect that they’d ended up with this cat in their lap, but hadn’t bothered to vet him properly. (She laughs briefly at her own wordplay.)

Meanwhile, downstairs…

While the drama is unfolding upstairs, the battle to cast out the remaining thugs goes on down below. Thoradin, ever the versatile fellow, boils the damaged human alive in his own armour, then quickly heals Miss Moss, who has suffered a lot during this battle.

Lia, standing at the bottom of the trapdoor, hears the voices upstairs, catching snippets of what’s going on. After firing precisely through a bandit’s shoulder, she hisses at Miss Moss, “I think we have trouble upstairs!”

Miss Moss, having to make a decision of what is more important here, has bigger fish to fry with the wolf looming. She decides this wolf needs ending, so sets up a shot on her crossbow, aiming for its open mouth, hoping for a kill shot through the back of the soft palate to the brain. The wolf chews on the arrow, and Miss Moss, never to be deterred by failure, has another shot. This time the wolf is looking a little woozy.

Meanwhile, up through the trapdoor…

Upstairs, Valkreth takes aim with her bow at Vax and says softly, “There’s no way you’re taking those boys.” The boys’ eyes flick from face to face, mouths agape.

“What’s happening here, cat?” Valkreth demands.

“We’re old friends, we’ve known each other for some time, we escaped jail together and have some outstanding business.”

“Do you want to call him off this task? Or he’s going to get an arrow in his head.”

“Vax, excuse me Vax, are those your friends downstairs?” Asks Gunther courteously, his tone not at all befitting the situation.

Vax says he is going to take the boys away and if Gunther tries to stop him, he’ll kill everyone here. Leshanna, emboldened by her multitudinous and skilled company, chimes in haughtily: “I don’t think you know who you are dealing with here, what makes you think you’ll be able to leave? The bard has friends, and we three already have you surrounded.” Her smugness surprises even her. Vax stares at her evenly. He’s a tough cookie.

Back outside the tower…

Meanwhile downstairs, Londer, ever the dog lover, takes his opportunity and benevolently and elegantly uses all his muscle power to slice the wolf’s head clean off, finally ending its reign of terror. Blood spurts out of the neck stub. While on a rare roll, Londer swings his Great Khan at the nearest bandit, slicing him so badly he immediately falls to the ground. There is so much blood pumping furiously out of the pair, the thug and the dire wolf, as they quickly bleed out.

Up through the trapdoor again…

Upstairs, Leshanna is incensed by the audacity and disobedience of Vax, and in a moment of outrage (and supreme overkill), puts him to sleep. The dagger drops out of his hand onto the ground. The youth sobs, with both of the boys rushing over to Leshanna’s side, away from the now sleeping Vax. Gunther receives a pointed side-eye from Leshanna. Sleeping Vax is quickly tied up.

Gunther, who is still close by to the window, sees an opportunity to distract Leshanna from eyeballing him suspiciously, and takes aim at a bandit outside. He calls out “Let’s have a par-ty! Dance my little friend, dancing time!” The arrow pierces the bandit’s abdomen, while Gunther laughs triumphantly, “You split your sides ha ha!” He turns to Leshanna, “Get it?” Leshanna looks away.

Back downstairs…

Down below, Thoradin has paralysed the last thug, who seems to be injured. Londer, always the gentleman, asks, “You appear to be outnumbered, young fellow, do you yield?” The thug doesn’t really answer, but his gawping silence is taken as a yes. Londer begins to tie him up to take him upstairs.

And up again…

With nothing else left to do downstairs, the whole gang finds themselves upstairs, discussing what’s happened. The upstairs crew brief the downstairs crew. With a moment of silence descending as each adventurer ponders the situation, Gunther is getting eyeballed by Leshanna, as Thoradin leans against the wall with his pipe, surveying the scene. The gang has this new information about Gunther, but none are quite in a position to challenge him just yet on these revelations. They’ve fought a hard battle. It can wait.

Lia takes the opportunity to talk to Valkreth about her missing sister, getting the down-low on kidnappings and slave trades. The Drow, it seems, are famous for these antics.

Miss Moss sidles over to Vax and sits crosslegged. “What the fuck are you up to, mate?” She demands. Vax is groggy, sneering, as he wakes up a little. Miss Moss, patience running thin on the ground after the battle, and dealing with these two snot-nosed little brats, grabs Vax by the throat and through gritted teeth says, “Do I have to ask you twice?” Vax is unmoved, still floppy from his sleep.

Londer waves Miss Moss away and moves over to Vax, searching his person systematically, without fanfare. Vax has no armour, a dagger and crossbow, and a few coins. If he died alone in a forest, nobody would know his name – he’s gone incognito. Taking the good cop position, Londer tries to get Vax to talk. Vax becomes more alert, but instead of answering Londer, he is talking to Gunther. “Man you’ve got to understand… Dog, who are these idiots? I can’t tell you anything!”

Londer says poshly, feeling rather noble himself, a kinship, “What do you want with these nobles? Maybe if we’re not at crossed purposes we can work something out.” Vax sighs, wriggling in his ropes.

Gunther’s upper lip raises just the tiniest bit into a snarl. Gunther, to everyone’s surprise, abruptly announces: “Enough fucking around,” drops his satchel, and draws out his bagpipes.

Vax wails, “Oh for fuck’s sake, not the bagpipes!” Gunther warms his pipes, staring at Vax, preparing to cast a spell of fear onto Vax, projecting phantasmal images of his worst fears. Vax begins to scream and thrash in fear, trying to escape but unable to, hammering himself against the wall, apparently petrified of Gunther playing the bagpipes.

“Vaxxie, what do you want with the chiiiiildren?” Gunther sing-songs at Vax as he starts to blow on the bagpipes. He’s actually quite good.

“I’ve been paid to do it! I can sort it out for you, but I was hired!” Vax gurgles and calls, but then starts jolting, a strange look coming over his face. As the gang looks on, intrigued, Vax starts to vomit water, soon it is pouring out of his mouth, and then, as suddenly as it started, it stops. Vax goes rigid and falls backwards. It seems as if he is dead. What a performance!

As shocked as anyone, the adventurers spin around to see the trussed-up bandit also puking water, and then also going rigid and seeming to die.

“Quite the review,” quips Gunther wryly, looking at both dead guys in turn. The bagpipes were not supposed to do that!

The nobles are the worst off out of everyone, despite not having done a single thing. They’re pale, eyes wide, with one still managing to have enough wherewithal to flick his hair out of his eyes with a flat, raised palm. It almost immediately falls back into place, and so the mesmerising ritual continues.

Valkreth is planning to take the boys as far as Triboar, where Zindra will arrange for their further safe passage onto NeverWinter. The adventurers quiz the youths a little more about what’s been happening in their town, but nothing else is known. There is some discussion of whether to leave in the night or in the morning. The adventurers decide to move on to Yartar, a day’s travel, at morning light, while Valkreth decides its best to get moving now, under the cover of darkness.

After a quick rifle through the bottom of the tower and the dead bodies, little of value is found, but pocketed is a couple of pairs of engraved gambling dice (Thoradin and Miss Moss snatch them up), Leshanna claims a climbing potion, and Londer takes a very fine embroidered silk handkerchief. About 40 silver pieces are gathered up from the pockets of the men, who seem to have been murdered with brutal but basic weapons.

The adventurers bid adieu to Valkreth and the two young men, Theodore Kravac and Omar Saravar, who are deeply grateful. As night falls, Lia decides to climb to the top of the tower spire to meditate overnight, impressing all with her nimble climbing. She sits, lotus, overlooking the Sarin Valley.

Miss Moss is grossed out by the smell of the dead bodies so decides to sleep outside. Thoradin, his inner dwarf coming right out, has no such qualms about blood and guts, and kicks the corpses down the hatch from upstairs, taking his place in a bed. Gunther curls up at the bottom of the bed that Londer is in. Leshanna also decides to meditate all night, setting an alarm at all entrances before she rests. All are content.

Yartar beckons

Packed and ready in the crisp morning, the gang makes their way along the path and down into the valley. The landscape returns to its familiar former self, hills in the distance. The repeating landscape dulls the senses. The sun gets high in the sky, as they plod along, then starts to sink again.

The gang become a little restless; they must be close to Yartar. Signs include birds flying above them, indicating water close by. likely the river, the adventurers assume.

Sure enough, the huge walls of Yartar, a sort of oasis city, appear in the distance. This fortified city is enormous, famous for its barge building. Plumes of smoke dot the horizon, a bare, hostile landscape. The city is ruled by a water baron, Miss Moss recalls, as the city reveals itself as being a place of the Lords’ Alliance with beckoning orange flags fluttering in the distance.

The gang approaches the city via the waterline, the bank rocky and muddy as the road bends around. Large flocks of birds – seagulls – caw and peck, fighting over morsels in the water. As the gang approaches, they see something large and white in the water. Intrigued, the adventurers go over to take a look. The birds flap away, squawking their annoyance.

The gang find what seems to be a cocoon with a naked, unconscious man inside. His skin is translucent and slimy. Londer grabs the cocoon and drags it out of the water. Miss Moss pokes him. He stirs. He’s alive but looks very confused. Some magic appears to have been performed, but it is unclear what sort.

After a little drama, they put the man into the back of the cart with Thoradin as caretaker and head towards the city gates. The man, who is about 20 years old, doesn’t know what day it is. The last thing he remembers is being at Rosalio Manor. The man’s name is Arton Rosalio.

Approaching the gates, the adventurers can see that the city is nestled between two rivers. There is a citadel on the western side, with a big stone bridge on the other side. The Lords’ Alliance banners are now very prominent. Flaming torches greet the travellers in the dusk.

The guards at the entrance stiffen at the approaching group. Miss Moss does the talking, being in the Lords’ Alliance (only just). To everyone’s pleasure, the guards all recognise the fabled Miss Moss with her white hair and red eyes, and the adventurers’ successes with the giants and other battles previous precede their arrival. They are not unknown around here. The guards are excited to welcome them in.

There are no lights within the city, the gang notice, as they are ushered into the city walls. A little girl, carrying a lantern, walks up and introduces herself. “Hello, I’m your light lass, where would you like to go this evening? Are you looking for an inn?”

“The best pub in town!” The adventurers are all excited, laughing and jostling, to be in a safe place for the first time in ages. The girl with the light smiles, nods and turns, leading the gang thruogh the winding streets of Yartar, arriving at a closed-up market square.

Approaching a small stone structure, the girl says, “You have arrived.” The group are in front of a small building with some lamps covering candles over a shield sign. The door opens, a stairway leading into the ground, orbs of light along the walls.

“Belladar’s Rest. I hope you enjoy your time in Yartar. That will be 10 silver please.”