Bog and Fraud can see the lower level more clearly now that they’ve been above there some time. It is a heavily decorated space, with worn arcane symbols of old Godlearner nature on all surfaces. There is a long table (5m) full of sorcerer stuff; 1.5m square bronze table with a Rokari altar in gold (eye of Invisible God etc.), a wooden chest behind a sorcerous/ritual circle inscribed into the floor, with a lead box inside it (!that’s your maguffin!) and a bronze brazier with smouldering coals (dimly lighting the room) to one side; a bed; a bookcase full of papers. Bog isn’t interested except in the box. Well, but also there’s a terrible monster; it must be the “child of Seshna and Penda” mentioned. It has a humanoid lion body, not too dissimilar to the Penjang, but with sabre-teeth (also like bladed snake-fangs), and supported / surrounded by a greenish glowing spectral giant snake-body, up to its waist. It roars its leonine bellow, echoing through the tower, but this does not bother Fraud or Bog; although Boamund and Shrett sure hear it. Boamund’s beastly urges turn from a gnawing to an inner roar.

Fraud is busy with the wizard. The wizard Naraph casts a Blinding Light of Rokar spell at Fraud, who barely blinks. Fraud Darkstrikes him but he avoids it. Then Bog remembers that he has his Far-Flung Frostflail and hurls its magical extension at Naraph, smashing his injured right arm, and the wizard dies, dropping his Golden Rod of Rokar and staying suspended in mid-air for a while, until his magic fades and he slowly descends to the floor. Bog goes down to the floor, hearing shouts from below and arriving as a man in bronze half-plate, with huge shield and big spear on his back; all glowing with magic; has ascended the ladder from the floor below. Fraud comes down, too, and faces the “snakelion”, which has come over to meet him.

Bog smashes the apparent leader of the soldiers, giving him a modest wound (and stun) to the right arm but more importantly, knocking him back down the hole. Fraud trades a couple of blows with the fierce Snakelion then is grabbed in its big muscular coils, with his arms and torso wrapped helplessly tight. It takes him a couple of tries, but he manages to turn into his giant eel form – and receives some surprise help. For, out of the shadows, like smoke solidifying, three heavily cloaked and hooded figures coalesce around Bog and Fraud. One of them does this as he plunges his dusky iron broadsword into the head of the Snakelion, impaling and dazing it. This buys critical time for Fraud to slip free. The two other figures point their swords at Bog and Shrett but don’t attack. Bog returns to his shadowed invisibility and Darkwalks over to the circle, runs in, and finds himself blasted in a ring of Rokari light magic: first, he is hit full in the face with a bolt of light that blinds him; second, he is lashed with fire that would have burned off his right arm if he hadn’t had his Shield spell up; and third, (but he does not know this as he is blind) he becomes visible again; his Darkwalk burned away in Rokar’s Holy Light. Bog crawls to the box, feeling his way, and grabs it, stands up, and moves off to one side out of the circle, knocking over the brazier and drawing attention from what’s happening over in Fraud’s area. The man with the impaling sword tries hitting the Snakelion with his iron mace but that doesn’t do anything helpful, so he takes the risk and rips his sword out of its head, slicing its head wide open, and it dies.

The newcomer then addresses Fraud, saying that you can have the tower but must leave for now. Fraud says no, you want the box, and the man (who has a small iron mask almost hiding a scarred face; and fancy iron lamellar is visible under his cloak) says he does too, but Fraud keep asking questions and the man won’t answer them, saying you’re outnumbered and should just drop weapons. But Fraud nicely keeps dialogue going. Bog can’t understand what’s happening but soon the man switches to halting Darktongue and says for the troll to come to them with the box. Bog starts fumbling that way, now accompanied by one of the cloaked figures (and a new one has appeared near Fraud). There are sounds of battle and death cries from the level below. Fraud won’t drop his sword but agrees to sheathe it, and is taken hostage. Bog goes back to Darkwalking and stumbles backward, feeling his way to the wall and wedging himself behind the chest, still clutching the box, whose coldness and heaviness he finds comforting. Fraud makes his captor uneasy by saying that Bog can travel between shadows and is back in TIskos by now. The mysterious group can’t find Bog, so the leader casts a Fly spell on Fraud and they whoosh out of the top of the tower (soon joined by three more of them). As they fly out, Fraud shouts something (I forget the words) that indirectly explains to Bog what’s happening and alerts Boamund and Shrett what’s up. And off they go into the night…

Meanwhile, outside the tower, Shrett is duelling with the guard he faces and finds himself hampered by his wounds, only just holding his ground. But he has heard a strange clattering noise of movement from out in the ruins, maybe down the road that comes to the tower. He lets Boamund know. Boamund faces two guards, one of whom does a heroic leap off the wall by the gate, trying to plunge his spear into Boamund, but timing it poorly and landing in a heap instead, although his magic leaves him uninjured. The other engages Boamund. They fight for a while but soon enough, with a lot of tripping and disarming coming from Boamund, the two guards are killed. Boamund lets loose that roar from within and becomes the Penjang! He takes the usual time to transform out of his gear, but Shrett is still fighting. Yet five more guards come from within the tower, crossing the bridge, while two try light crossbow shots (with Firearrow) at Boamund but miss or bounce off his armour. Boamund-Penjang sprints across the gate area and claws the guard by Shrett, and soon that man is finally dead. The Penjang sprints back, and plays cat-and-mouse with the five guards (who make their way down off the bridge/walls), soon killing one that has come near the gate, and another runs in Shrett’s direction but hasn’t seen him yet.

Shrett climbs up above the gate and sees a horse-drawn wagon coming down the road, holding maybe a half-dozen cloaked figures. He has drawn his bow and (with some trouble) managed to badly wound one guard with a Truearrow shot in the back (that’s the one Boamund shreds), then is shooting for the other one (who is trying to get onto the gate to fight Shrett) until Boamund rushes back and helps kill him. There are three guards left, who have formed a well-organised shield wall in pursuit of Penjang, but they’re much slower and he just leads them back anticlockwise around the walls, and comes back to Shrett, who has gathered some of Boamund’s gear. Yet the wagon arrives with its mysterious riders. They shout in Safelstran to the guards inside, exchanging some words that Shrett can’t understand and Penjang doesn’t care about. And soon they reach the gate, the three guards let them in and talk while Boamund has run across the bridge and into the tower in search of prey and Shrett stays in hiding, and after some conversation they go inside the tower (all three guards, and three of the six newcomers; the other three stay with the wagon, very alert). Boamund finds the first floor of the tower empty, but up above there are some dead or unconscious bodies and he makes sure they’re all very dead; and has a snack in the meantime. Bog hears him and soon they’re reunited, and Boamund (maintaining some of his wits) guides blind Bog down the ladders and out of the tower. The three of you gather Boamund’s gear, with Bog casting a Conceal spell on Boamund to let him get past the six people entering the tower (Boamund wisely chooses not to ambush them), and you escape into the night. You’ve got the box but have lost Fraud. Remarkably, except for Shrett’s head wound, no one has been hurt.

Bog opens the lead box at last. His face is bathed in chilly shadows that rise out of it, and he grins widely in awe and glee. What he sees is amazing. [He hasn’t told you others, but it’s a lead gauntlet, studded with spikes and studs, surely of Arkat Kingtroll or Destroyer] Boamund and Shrett can’t at first see what’s there, as Bog clutches it close to his chest and face and the shadows block some sight, but Boamund tries his Arkati third eye and see through the shadows. He sees visions of dazzling power, and recognizes this as some great Arkati artifact, and he too feels that awe but hasn’t seen the contents. Bog closes the box and you leave, soon back through the gates of Tiskos.

And wondering: who are those two other groups that came to the tower? And how the heck will you find Fraud and deliver the box?

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