Luthien nodded.

"A tavern in Nulb, yes. I...do not have the slightest idea why I am here or why they would want me."

Something in the back of his mind suggested 'sacrifice to the dark gods', but...he could be wrong.

Amathaon nodded and replied, "That is odd lad. They probably slipped you something in your ale or food."

Lutbien nodded. "Sounds about right. But again, why me? I'm merely a horseman. I'm not anybody of any great importance."

"Why were yer in Nulb in the first place? Maybe that has somethin' to do with it?"

Luthien, conscious of duty, "I was supposed to deliver a message to Rufus in Hommlet. I didn't think it was that important."

Amathaon replied, "What was the message you were supposed to deliver? Maybe it was important to more than just Rufus."

Luthien shook his head.

"I have no idea. Sealed envelope, I wasn't supposed to open it. You know how it is for messages."

Amathaon nodded and sat down. He said, "Lad, did you notice anything about the area outside this cell? Like how many guards, what sort of weapons they have?" He wanted to get a clearer picture of what was immediately outside the cell. Not that it mattered, without the princes help, there wasn't a lot they could do.

Luthien again wasn't much help.

"Afraid not. I was still to groggy from the poison to see much."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:00, Wed 14 May 2014.

"I think I can help you a little without breaking my oath."
Pushing aside some of the filthy straw, the prince began to draw on the floor. Ten minutes or so later and he had...


"We are here where the (red) X is."
"The fire temple controls the area to our south, and there's stairs down to a lower level near us. I don't know where there are any passable stairs up."
"The fire temples strength is nearly destroyed as far as I can tell, only two of their priests and a pair of bugbears remain from what I saw, the bulk of their forces in the form of a pair of werewolves, a few humans, some ogres and more bugbears already slain by the group I was rescued by."
"From what I overheard while being brought here, the two gaolers aren't actually affiliated with any of the temples, but act to hold prisoners for all of them."

Luthien thought about that.

"What was your oath, exactly?"

He's too new to know any of this stuff. Still, looking at the map did cause some ideas to pop to mind. All he had to do was get hold of a weapon. Preferably a longsword.

Amathaon looked at the map and said, "Any idea where that stair case going downstairs leads? I mean what's on the lower level? If we get out of here, I hope I can find my falchion or some good weapons."

Luthien thinks. "I'd settle for the quickest way out. Though getting our equipment back WOULD be ideal."

More activity is heard in the guardroom, and once more the order to move away from the door is given as yet another prisoner is tossed, blindfolded and bound into the 8'x8 space.
It's starting to get very cosy in there now. Good thing this prisoner is a halfling.

"Hello," Prince Thrommel greeted the latest arrival as the door slammed shut behind him.
"Welcome to our "home" for the moment. This is Amathaon, Rolf, Luthien, and the merchants, Bill and Bob. I am Prince Avras Thrommel, Grand Marshall of Furyondy, Provost of Veluna, Knight of the Hart, and Paladin Lord of Trithereon."
"And you are?"

For a moment, Luthien considered pushing on the door. Even for one so young, he was strong. But...even if he forced the door open, he'd be unarmed facing armed guards. There was no wisdom in that.

"...Welcome to prison. I'm recently arrived too. Your highness, you've yet to explain exactly what oath you swore. We'll have to know what you can and can't do before we attempt to leave."

Amathaon stepped back and looked at the new prisoner. He said, "Haldan, is that you?" He went to remove the new prisoners blindfold.

"HEY!" Rolf yelled through the small observation port.
"DON'T YOU HAVE OTHER CELLS!?"

"I am here by choice you could say. The group I was with recently entered into a difficult battle with the fire temple, led by Alrrem. Things did not go well for us, despite many of the enemy falling before us. One of our number, a ranger by the name of Ronalt was felled by their priests magic and taken prisoner. Alrrem signalled he wished to parlay - several spells of silence were upon the field of battle at that time - indicating that if we continued to struggle, Ronalt would be slain on the spot."

"His offer was that in exchange for "persuading" Romag and the earth temple to ally with them, and "convincing" Belsornig, the priest of the water temple to step aside, they would help us to leave this underground maze safely."

"In order to free Ronalt from their grasp I was to take his place as hostage, ensuring the good behaviour of all of them. I gave my word that if Alrrem and his followers kept up their end of the bargain, I would not resist. So far I have seen no indication of betrayal, and so I must stay here and wait."

"I chose to swap places with Ronalt because if trouble does occur, I am best able to survive it."
This message was last updated by the player at 07:54, Sat 17 May 2014.

Luthien shook his head.

"Calm down. If they're unwise enough to put this many prisoners in one cell, we'd be more unwise still to not take advantage of it. The prince made a map for us."

He thought they should move to get out of here, and soon!

Turning back to the prince.

"You might not be allowed to leave, your highness...but how much can you do to help us escape? Do you need to stay within this cell, or just within this temple? Because you could escort us outside if it's the latter."

He would never think of asking him to break his oaths, considering he wished to take such oaths himself someday, but he did want to know the limits of what he considered 'acceptable helping the rest of us get out of here.'

"Well, maybe not. If you promised not to resist, that means you can't fight the guards if they come, doesn't it? Hmmm. What if we do the fighting? Are you allowed to heal us as best as you are able?"

Pausing, "Because I bet if Rolf and I put our backs into it, we'll prove sturdier then the door's lock."

The small form squirms and struggles, then freezes at the dwarf's question. The blindfold comes off, and the small, dirty halfling's eyes light on Amathaon, then quickly scan the cell's other occupants.

He spits a little blood, then says, “Yeah, it's me. Can y'untie me?”

Amathaon nodded and went to untie his halfling friend. He said, "Good to see you old friend. Wish it was under better circumstances. Thought for sure that you'd get away."

Hap rubs his arms ruefully, trying to return circulation. "Well, we all have to sleep sometime." With a hard look in his eye, he adds, "Their mistake was in letting me wake again."

He looks up at the others with some caution. "Call me Hap." Looking back to his friend, he asks Amathaon in a voice that is quiet, but easy enough for the others to hear, "Are we gonna have problems with this lot?"

Amathaon replied, "Naw, just with the prince over there. One of those honor bound paladins don't ya know. Any idea who those strangers were that nabbed us?"

Hap takes another look at the “prince,” then focuses his attention back on his dwarven friend. “They seemed to be taking orders from a priest of some kind, I think,” he says after some consideration. “Don't see why they'd come looking specifically for us, if they just wanted sacrifices. I mean, I don't think I've done anything to offend any temples.” He looks up at Amathaon from under his brows. “You?”