As the party recovered, two new dwarves came to town - Grythor and Valla. The two dwarves were married, and had come to Terinyo from the North after hearing of kobold troubles in the area. Their particular clan was sworn to erase the kobold scourge from existence, and had come as soon as word had travelled. The first person they met was Galitus, and he regaled them with the tales of the previous weeks.

Valla and Grythor took an immediate liking to Galitus and Tarylia. They believed that there might be some further disturbance that had pushed the kobolds into the area, and wanted to do some initial investigation.

One morning, about the time the party had become fully recovered, the group was sitting around the Copper Dragon's tavern, telling jokes and sipping their beverage of choice. Into the door strode a halfling - his eyes shifty, and his manner nervous.

After wandering about the bar, he settled on Vidal's table. Vidal was kicked back, chair leaning back, feet on the table, and sipping some wine.

"You mind if I sit here?" he asked in a timid voice.

Vidal looked him over suspiciously, "Yes, I do."

"I'll buy," replied the halfling, and presented a bottle of Vidal's favorite wine.

"OK," replied Vidal, as she set her chair down, "what do you want?"

"Well, to be honest," replied the halfling, "I'm looking for some help."

"What kind of help?" asked Vidal, as she motioned for the others.

The other members of the party took notice, and motioned for those who didn't. Soon, the whole party was listening to the nervous halfling. The halfling ordered more rounds for everybody, and soon had the party's undivided attention.

"I need an escort to Ibalea, the large city to the South," said the halfling, "I can pay you well."

"Why do you need an escort?" asked Galitus.

"Well," replied the halfling, "aside from the fear of the types of highway robbery that have been occuring around here as of late, persons in my line of business occasionaly make, ahem, enemies."

"What is your profession," asked Galitus.

"Why," replied the halfling, "I am a collector!"

"And what do you collect," asked Rick.

"I'll tell you what he collects!" shouted Grythor, as he picked the halfling up by his scruff. "He collects the coin from people's pockets! I just caught him with his fingers in my poke!"

After a quick check, Vidal found that she had been robbed completely. "Buying me drinks with my own money?" she yelled, "I should take you to the sheriff for trial right now!"

"Not so quickly," countered the nervous halfling, "I did not lie to you - there is good money to be made! I cannot help that I was robbed on the way in to town, and had no way of paying now. The rewards for helping me will be great!"

"Robbed, you say," said Bob, "by whom, and of what? Why shouldn't we escort you to the jail now?"

"An item you no doubt stole from some other person," replied Grythor, "Where is it?"

"I had to hide it," replied the halfling, "I knew I was being followed, so I hid the merchandise! Then, I was robbed not long after!"

"What is this that you were followed for it?" asked Rick.

"I cannot tell you that!" answered the halfling, "Will you agree to help me deliver it to Ibalea?"

"Tie him up," said Rick, "I don't trust him. We'll take him to the jail... He can have a talk with the sheriff."

"You've got to help me!" sobbed the small halfling. "I never meant any real harm! I never knew what I was getting into! Please!" He paused to blow his ruddy nose in a lace handkerchief. "I've spotted some bounty hunters on my trail. I'm sure that they are sent by that merchant noble I stole the gem from," he said. "I can't get away with hiding much longer! Please protect me or hide me from them!" The halfling gazed pitifully at the party.

"Bounty hunters," asked Bob, "Why shouldn't we escort you to the jail now? Sheriff Johnson wil protect you until your trial"

"I can repay you back with interest!" snivelled the halfling, now sweating profusely. "If we can recover the gem and take it back to Ibalea and then I will be able to pay you handsomely!"

"Recover the gem," replied Grythor, "Where is it?"

"I sold it to a wizard," replied the halfling, "I needed the money, so I sold it! "

"How about you just pay us back for what you have taken, and we'll just let you go free?" asked Rick.

"I uh... I don't seem to have any money left!" answered the halfling, "I spent it all. All I have left is my gear and sword!"

"I'll take that sword," said Nel, "It should just about cover what you owe me! Rick, Bob - do what you wnt with him, I'm off to sell this nice-looking sword." With that, Vidal walked out of the room.

"Tie him up," said Rick, "I don't trust him. Let's just haul him over to the sheriff's ofice."

"I am afraid that Tarylia and I cannot come, as we are waiting for a messenger from home," said Galitus, sadly.

The halfling was bound securely, and tied to a twenty foot lead rope. They left the Copper Dragon for the jail - the group hadn't made it more than fifty feet before they came across another group coming their way. The approaching group consisted of what appeared to be a female and male human and a half-orc. Each were wearing dark cloaks and grim expressions. As the parties closed, it became apparent that the new group was all battle-hardened, and seemed to be carrying equipment comensurate with abilities greater than that of the party.

"Hold!" called the woman as she threw back her hood, "Well, well... We've finally found our little sneak thief. And he thinks he's found some protection, eh?" She looked the party over and sneered with a contemptuous expression. "Sorry little halfling... it's obvious that your friends aren't enough to stop us. It's time for you to return what you've stolen." The woman drew a dangerous looking sword out from under her cloak, while the others did the same. "Just give us the item," she says, "and we will leave you and your friends alone. Resist, and we'll make do with just bringing your head back as our prize."

"Lady," replied Rick, as the halfling cowardly skulked towards the back of the party, "I don't know about you, but I don't usually tie my friends up and lead them around on a rope."

The woman glared at Rick. "Regardless, you have the one we seek. where is it, halfling? Where is the item you have stolen?"

"Eeep! I no longer have it! I swear! I swear!" grovelled the halfling.

"While he is no friend to us," stated Grythor, "he is under our protection."

"How noble, little Dwarf," said the woman, "then it shall be your responsibility to recover the stolen gem."

"The responsibilty for his actions is not ours," replied Rick, "Why should we help you do your job?"

"You don't need us as enemies, boy!" replied the woman, "You will recover the goods, or we will come after you!"

The party pulled the halfling aside and began to question him. "To whom did you sell the gem," asked Rick, "and where is he?"

"I told you, just some wizard I met on the road." cried the halfling.

"Just some guy you met on the road?" asked Rick. Speaking to the woman, Rick said, "He's sold the gem. How are we to find it, then - just hope really hard? And if we were lucky enough to find it, should we rob someone of their honestly acquired item?"

"Phht! " hissed the woman sternly, "That's your problem - we were hired to retrieve the gem, and we will!"

Turning to the halfling, Rick asked "What else do you know, you little troublemaker?"

"The wizard said something about exploring some ruins to the south of here!! Exactly where, I don't know... But I do know that he has not yet returned to town!" cried the halfling, " I'll be happy to lead you!"

"Again, why should we do your job for you?" asked Bob of the woman, "What's in it for us?"

"We'll let you live, little man" snarled the woman, "now go retrieve the stone! And, as a security deposit, you will leave the halfling with us!"

"Here, take the halfling," said Rick, pushing the miserable creature toward the woman, "You're mistaken if you think he is barter for our work!"

"You have five days, and then the halfling dies!"

"So what? We could be long gone by then," said Rick.

"Then we will notify our guild, and you will be hunted down," said the woman, "one-by-one if necessary! Now go! We will be waiting for you in Terinyo."

The party members looked sullenly at one another, shrugged, and began hiking down the road. Late in the afternoon, Rick discovered a little-used trail leading into the woods. Many snickers ensued from the other party members as Rick communed with some local squirrels.

"New pets?" teased Bob.

"Phht! Tree rats!" exclaimed Rick, "Mostly worthless, except for food and the occasional piece of information. It seems they recall seeing our missing wizard go this way a couple days ago. This way," Rick continued, as he pushed into the woods.

The party travelled about a half-mile into the woods, when the narrow path began to open up into an wide clearing. Ahead could be seen a large castle. It was obviously ancient, as most of it had decomposed into rubble. One section of the castle, near the main gate was still intact, but it appeared that a watch tower had fallen into the courtyard behind the gate.

"Where the heck did that come from?" asked Rick.

"Obviously," replied Grythor, "Someone built it. Are ye daft?"

Rick replied, "It's not on any maps I know of - something like this should have shown up on some map somewhere, or at least you'd think the locals would know something about it. It must be *very* old."

"Maybe so, maybe not," replied Grythor, "regardless, it would seem that our halfling's wizard has been here before us. We need to find his hidden treasure."

The group could see that the fallen tower had also knocked down one of the keep's walls. The Ruins were too loose to climb, however, so they travelled part way 'round until they came to the gatehouse. The doors seemed to have been knocked downby some great force, maybe the collapse of the tower, and were lying on the ground outside the gate.

The party cutiously entered the castle - the ceiling of the gatehouse had collapsed, as had the ceiling of the main entryway. Rubble was strewn everywhere. An archway led to the West into a covered area, and there appeared to be a courtyard to the East. The remains of the tower lay across the back of the entryway.

"There's some faint tracks here," said Rick while studying the ground, "looks like maybe three people passed this way. I think they went over to that room from here."

The party followed Rick's lead out into the covered area. Across from their exit could be seen a doorway. The party cautiously entered to find an old armory. The square room was in relatively good condition compared to the rest of the castle. Along the North wall was a rack of spears. Various swords hung from racks on the South wall, while the West wall had two suits of armor.

"Meh! These spears are all warped and rusted," said Grythor with disgust.

"Yeah, these swords are all shot," agreed Bob.

As Rick picked up a piece of armor, it crumbled away in his hands, making a loud thud as pieces fell to the ground. "This armor's not in such good shape, either," he said. Peering at the ground, he said, "It looks like our frineds looked around too."

The party exited the armory and proceeded towards the courtyard. Interestingly, the tower had not fully collapsed, and a gaping entrance to this tower lay to the South. Forward of the pary, to the East, were a couple of iron-bound wooden doors of normal size.

"I'm not to keen on going in that collapsed tower," said Rick, "I'm thinking we should check out those doors over there, first."

"I'll be agreein' wi' that," replied Grythor, Valla nodding behind him.

The group walked over to the Northmost door and tried to open it. The iron was till strong, if somewhat rusty, but the wood was worm-eaten and mostly rotten - it nearly fell apart from the push, but otherwise opened easily. The room was empty, and a thorough search turned up nothing but mortar dust.

"Let's go on to the next door, then," said Bob.

This door was in much better shape, and opened easily as well. Inside, were several crates. The crates appeared to have been recently opened. Inside they found a number of crossbows in amazingly good shape. The remaining crates were packed with bolts - a thorough search turned up only a few useable bolts.

"You've got to wonder how these crossbows managed to avoid the ravages of time," said Rick.

"Maybe they've not been here so long," opined Bob, "maybe somebody's been using this place for storage recently?"

"I dinna know," replied Grythor, "those bolts're in pretty poor shape."

"Maybe the wizard's interest inthis dump is more than academic," posited Bob.

"Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough," said Rick, "There's a door over there beyond that crate, who's turn is it to lead?"

"Yours," said Bob.

"OK," replied Rick, "but the next one is yours."

Inside, the West wall, to the left, was partially collapsed where the tower had fallen. The room was empty, save for dust and another doorway to the South. Holes in the ceiling were letting in daylight, giving the room an eerie quality.

"Let's see what we can see," said Bob, as he began climbing the rubble.

"I wouldn't do that, lad," said Grythor, "That rubble looks mighty loose!"

As if to confirm his point, stones began slipping from under bob's feet, and he slid back down to the bottom of the pile. "Well, nothing to see, then," said Bob, "let's move along."

Bob walked over to the closed interior door, and began to open it. As he peeked in, the party saw him go suddenly stiff and get rapidly dragged into the room. Inside, they could hear strangling noises.

Rick burst into the room, only to find Bob hanging by his neck from the ceiling. A large, greenish-black tentacle had hold of Bob by his throat, and was trying to pull him up through the holes in the roof.

The room rapidly filled as Rick and Grythor barged into battle with the large tentacle. "Bob! Are you OK?" yelled Rick.

"Urk!" Replied Bob

As Rick began hewing on the tentacle, another quickly snatched up grythor. Grythor's legs were twitching in the air as Rick finally cut Bob loose. The purple color ran from Bob's face as he gasped frantically for air. Soon Bob was ready to join the fray, but could only reach Grythor's boots - It was up to Rick to save the choking dwarf.

It seemed forever to Grythor, but Rick finally severed the tentacle. The Choker to whom the tentacles belonged fell through the hole in the ceiling and expired.

Rick quickly pulled the twitching tentacles from his friends' neck

"Crap! Are you all right?" asked Rick.

"What took you so long?" gasped Bob, as his face slowly regained color.

"Yeah, you're all right," answered Rick, as he cured Bob's wounds.

The party quickly recovered their composure, and began searching the surrounding rubble. They quickly found nothing of any use, and headed back out into the courtyard.

The party worked their way into the collapsed tower. It was amazingly intact, proscribing a tall, arched hallway with large mounds of rubble to either side. The party could see large metal ribs forming an internal structure to the tower - while somewhat corroded, they maintained the towers shape, and still held all the stones in place overhead.

Looking around, Rick noticed what appeared to be some tunnels leading deeper into the rubble. "Check that out," he said.

Grythor looked up and said "Looks like the kinda spot something nasty might like t' be livin'"

"Yeah," Rick replied, "I was just thinking that - keep an eye out."

"Over here!" shouted Grythor, "I've found something!"

"What is it?" Asked Bob.

"It's a small, iron box," replied Grythor, "it's in remarkably good shape."

Rick walked up and cast a detect magic. "Whoooooaaa!" he cried.

"What is it?" the rest of the group asked in unison.

"This whole place... Yes, the box has some magic - inside it, I think. But the metal ribs in this tower are magical, too. It is that magic that appears to be keeping the walls in such good shape. I wonder if I could get some of that stuff and have a sword made?"

"Don't be daft," said Grythor, bringing Rick form his reverie. "If ya were to start banging on that metal, ye could bring the whole place down aboot our earhs!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Look out!" cried Rick, as a huge, centipede-like beast with tentacles about its mouth burst forth from one of the tunnels.

One of the tentacles shot forward, smacking into Bob. Bob felt his body going nub as he fell to the floor. It was no time at all before the monster was upon him! He felt himself being eaten alive!

Valla and Grythor were momentarily stunned by the horror of seeing their friend being eaten by the grizly beast. They quickly snapped out of their captivation and ran into battle. They could hear Bob's cries as he was swallowed whole.

Rick laid into the carrion crawler and smiled grimly as the ichor shot forth from its wounds. One of the tentacles smacked at him - his shield arm went numb, but he still fought on, cutting another gouge into the beast's side. Another tentacle hit him - this time in the leg, and he felt that leg begin to go numb.

Valla and Grythor were having problems of their own, as Valla had also been struck and paralyzed. Grythor was badly wounded by a barage of tentacle attacks - the beast had eight of them, and he had removed three, but they kept coming and coming. A tentacle finally made it thorugh Grythor's guard, knocking him down and paralyzing him. The horrific beast was moving in to eat him alive!

As it began to look like the party would find it's untimely end, Bob's paralysis wore off! He was awake and inside the monster, but had not lost his grip on his sword! With what little breath he had left, he began squirming and cutting wherever he could reach. The beast reared up and dropped Grythor. Rick was knocked dowwn as Bob burst from the carrion crawlers backside, gasping for breath and flinging ichor everywhere. The beast expired then and there, as the party began to slowly recover.

"Crap, that was unpleasant," said Grythor.

"Tell me about it," replied Bob.

"So, what's in the box," asked Valla.

"I dinna know," replied Grythor, "It's locked and I canna open it."

"Well," said Rick, "I guess we'll just wait 'til later then."

"You suppose there's anything worth finding up there," said Bob, pointing towards the carrion crawler's lair.

"I don't know," replied Rick, "But I sure don't want to head down this passageway and have another one of those nasty bastards sneak up behinds us... I think we need to go check it out just to be safe!"

"Yeah, I suppose you might be right," said Bob.

After resting a bit, Rick cast healing magic on Bob, and the party continued into the carrion crawler's lair. Inside they found the remains of the crawler's latest victim - a human in scale mail armor.

"The body is relatively fresh," said Rick. "I wonder if he was part of the wizard's group? The armour is my size and magic, though," he said after casting a detect magic. "Anyone mind if I keep it? I could use some better armor."

"No, go right ahead," said Bob & Valla, "You're the only one it will fit."

The party continued searching the area. Little was found, except near the body. There they found a masterwork sword, a steel shield (taken by Bob), and some money, which was split evenly amongst the party. Valla held on to a potion that she was able to identify as a sort of healing potion.

The small group left the lair and contined deeper into the fallen structure. Soon, they found another opening near the tower's base. Rick blinked at the bright sunshine as he peered throught the door-sized opening into What appeared to be the castle's grand hall.

The hall's vaulted ceiling was still intact, supported by large arches. Most of the ceiling was still intact, but many holes allowed the daylight to shine in. The floor was now covered in stones and dirt. Many plants and vines were growing all about the room, apparently being blown in through the roof as seeds, or growing in from a passageway to the South. A dark corridore led to the West, into a rather intact-looking part of the castle.

"Stop!" cried Rick, grabbing Bob and holding him back

"What the... Why?" asked Bob

"Something's not right there, can't you see it?" asked Rick as he pointed to the courtyard.

"See what?" asked Grythor and Valla together.

"Look closely, see how that grass is moving?" asked Rick, pointing.

"So, what?" the group replied.

"There's no wind. There's something funny going on there," said Rick. Looking closely, he thought he could determine a safe area to travel. He carefully picked his way out into the courtyard, and worked his way around. Looking more closely, he called back "Assassin vine! There's no way to make it into the doorway over there, without having to deal with it!"

"What's an assassin vine," called Bob.

"Remember that strangler that got you earlier, back in the servant's quarters," asked Rick.

"Yes," said Bob

"Well, like that, only a plant. We'll have to take it out to get into the next tower," replied Rick. "Work your way around to different points - the way I came in, and we'll attack it en masse!"

The party took positions, and on Rick's signal they attacked in unison. Rick quickly moved in to the stalk of the plant, while Grythor and Valla did their best to keep the vine's branches at bay. Bob did his part to distract the plant by allowing it to wrap a branch around his neck.

"Uuurrk!" Cried Bob, as he swung his sword at the offending branch.

"We're coming!" called Valla, as she and Grythor fought their way towards the hanging Gnome.

Rick was steadily hacking at the base of the vine, and blocking attacks with his shield. Valla and Grythor managed to cut loos the vine from around Bob's neck, and Bob again jumped into the fray.

It looked as though the vine might get the best of the party - A tendril had wrapped itself around Rick's shield arm, and the plant fought like a cornered tiger. Valla had a leg entwined by the plant, and Bob once again was tangled up by the vine - this time around the chest. Rick finally severed the base, and the vine fell quivering to the ground.

"you're getting pretty good at that," said Rick joknigly to Bob, "are you all right?"

"Bite my ass," replied Bob, rubbing his neck.

Rick began taking some cuttings of the roots and stalks. "What are you doing," asked Bob.

"I'm taking some cuttings - I might want to plant one of these, someday," replied Rick. "I should be able to transplant these roots to a new location and grow one of these bad boys. I might also be able to do some grafting and have a hybrid."

"Why on earth would you want to do that," asked Valla.

"Someday, I might have sometihng I want to protect," Rick replied, as he finished gathering his cuttings. "Hey, look over here," he cried, "there's a dead half-elf over here. And he's pretty fresh, too!"

A thorough search of the surrounding area turned up more masterwork weapons, a magic cloak, some magic dust, and a small amount of money. Rick and Valla cast the last of their healing magic on those who needed it. Looking around, all that remained to be seen was the entrance into the back wall tower. Rick and Bob moved to he open doorway and looked in.

The party entered the doorway, and found a hallway running back into the keep. The party eased down the hallway until they found an open door on the left. Peeking in, they could see a large altar with a heavy mace hanging on the wall behind it. On closer inspection, both the sword and altar had the insignia of Galitus' god, Heironeous.

Rick cast a detect magic, and found that the sword was, indeed magical, and the altar was still sanctified. Rick carefully and respectfully removed the sword from the wall and put it in his pack. "I'll bring this back to Galitus when we're done here," he said.

Furhter down the hallway was a bedroom with attached sitting room. THe bedroom was dominated by a four-poster bed in poor repair. A large, ironwood chest sat at the foot of the bed.

"I canna open it, tis locked," said Grythor.

"We'll come back for it later," said Rick, "It's too heavy to lug around this place - I'll bet it's an easy seventy-five pounds."

The sitting room was once ornately furnished with expensive furniture and tapestries. All of these things had decayed with age. The tapestries had faded with age, and were now mere rags hanging on the walls.

"Shit!" cried Bob, as he fell to the floor.

"What happened," creid Rick, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," replied Bob, "this chair just collapsed when I leaned against it.

"Ya big dummy," laughed Rick, "you gettin' tired?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," said Bob, "I'm about ready to be done here.

The group continued through the castle interior, searching through the few remaining rooms. They found nothing of interest. Finally, in the corner of the castle, they opened a door into a stairway landing.

Looking through the doorway, Rick and Bob saw a landing with a spiral stairway heading up in the corner. Lying dace-down in the floor was the decomposing body of a robed human. The robes and clothes were tattered, as if the man had been killed in a fight.

"I'll bet that's our missing wizard," said Rick.

"Yeah, not much left," replied Bob, wrinkling his nose at the smell.

"Looks like the only way left is up," said Rick, matter of factly.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," sighed a dejected Bob.

"Be careful," said Rick, "those steps might be slick, and it's a long way down!"

"I hate heights," replied Grythor, "Why can't you big people live on the ground, instead of above it?"

"No doubt," agreed Bob.

Rick and Bob began climbing the stairs, while Valla and Grythor followed close behind. As they began to round the first bend, a harpy - half woman, half bird, horribly ugly, and horribly smelly - appeared from around the corner. Apparently this was her roost, and the party was trespassing.

The harpy began to sing a mesmerizing song. Rick and Bob shook off the effects of her song, but Valla and Grythor became camptivated, mindlessly walking towards the harpy and their doom.

Rick landed a telling blow on the harpy's ribs, interrupting her song. Bob entered the fray, while Valla and Grythor began to look around confised, wondering how they got up on to the stairway.

The harpy unleashed a flurry of attacks on Rick, slashing him twice with her club. Rick pressed his attack, but failed to harm the vile beast. Bob pressed forward, and landed a glancing blow to the harpy's leg.

Valla and Grythor recovered their compmosure and moved up the staircase behind Rick and Bob. From there, they began to pepper the harpy with te crossbows they had found earlier.

The harpy continued to rain hard blows down upon Rick and Bob, but the party managed to press the attack, pushing the harpy further upwards on the stairs. Finally the brawl emerged onto an open landing. The party maneuvered to surround the harpy, but the horrid beast fought hard. Valla and Grythor were both severely wounded by the Harpy's vicious attacks. Rick was knocked to the ground by one blow while Bob managed to deftly avoid the harpy's attacks.

Finally, the party managed to wear the evil beast down, and she flew off the parapet. Rick dropped his sword and quickly pulled out his bow. The harpy was at the edge of his range, but he managed to fell the beast with a single arrow. With a loud squack, she fell dead through the forest canopy.

The party began searching around the landing, and Rick found a loose brick. Removing the brick, he found a large, clear-blue diamond, nearly the size of his fist. Shurely this was what they were looking for! A pair of magic gloves, a wand, and five white pearls were also found behind the brick.

"I hope this is what they're looking for," said Rick, "I'm about done with all this crap."

"Oooohh!" cried Valla, as she saw the stone.

"Aaaahh!", agreed Grythor.

"Damn! Would ya look at the size of that rock!" exclaimed Bob.

The party left the keep and headed back to Terinyo. Once there, they met up with Galitus in the Copper Dragon.

"Hey, little boy," said Rick, "I've got something for you!" The quizzical look on Galitus' face was all the answer Rick needed as he pulled the mace from his pack. Galitus' expression changed to one of wonder as Rick handed it over. "Careful with it, it's magical, but we've not yet identified it." Rick then described the trip and the room in which the sword was found.

The whole party was sitting around a table, helping tell the story and their partin it, when the woman and her cronies entered. The woman came up to Rick and asked "Do you have the gem?"

"We recovered the gem, but I don't have it on me right now," said Rick (it was hanging in a small sack on his belt - because he was kciked back with his feet up, it was hanging under him). "I think you owe us something," he continued, much to the surprise of the rest of the party.

"The halfling is in the back - we'll bring him out when you give us the gem," she demanded.

"I'm not talking about the halfling - you can bring him out now, and then we'll discuss our payment."

The woman raised an eyebrow at Rick and said "Your payment? What right have you to ask me for payment? Your payment is oyur life and the life of the hobbit!"

"Pshh! If you kill us you'll have no gem, and will have failed in your mission. It seems to me that we have done your job for you, and that you owe us something for that. I would expect at least one-thousand gold for services rendered - we've used up supplies and magic which now must be replaced - the way I see it, you owe us! Besides, I somehow imagine that you'll lose some face when word gets out that you had to coerce someone else to do your work for you."

The woman eyed Rick shrewdly and said "You've got some brass, boy. You give me the gem, now, and I'll give you five-hundred gold."

Rick looked briefly at the rest of the party. They were astonisheed at this turn of events, and were nodding eagelry at Rick. "Deal," Rick answered. He grabbed the gem and tossed it to the woman.

The woman looked into the bag and then tossed a bag of gold to Rick. "I thought you didn't have it on you," she said, while motioning for one of her henchmen to go get the halfling

"Technically," said Rick,smiling, "it was under me. Thank you. We'll try not to spend it all in one place."

The henchman returned with the halfling, who was still thoroughly bound. "Tak him," the woman said, "you've earned his freedom. Hopefully we won't meet again." With that, she and her goons left the room.

"Thank you, thank you, oh thank you," cried the halfling. "You've saved me! How can I ever repay you?"

"Leave," said Rick.

"B-but," stammered the halfling.

"You heard me, leave," said Rick, "You're lucky we came backand that we saved your bacon. You can thank us by leaving and never crossing our path again!"

"B-but... Couldn't you at least untie me?" pleaded the halfling.

"No," said Rick, "your hands are what got you into this trouble in the first place. Leave now, and don't look back. Don't sully this town with your presence again!" With that, Rick stood up and escorted the halfling out the door. Pointing towards the south he said "Ibalea is that way. I don't want to see you again. Ever." Rick went back into the bar and enjoyed the rest of the night with his friends.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the party rested up, identified Galitus' ne sword (a Holy Avenger), and basically relaxed.

This ends Bravo Campaign.

More to come...