The more deeper the companions decended into the sewers, the more murkier and slimier the walls became. The smell of decay assaulted their senses, and it seemed Minsc was having some trouble manuevering in the darkness. In the distance, the tunnel seemed to be lighted, and when the companions moved towards it, they noticed the light was emanating from the recently lit magical torches.

"Well, I think we're getting closer to the cultists' base of operations," Laska stressed while listening intently, hoping to pick up the sounds of humans in the distance with her elven senses. Hearing only rats and other small lifeforms, she silently moved into the lightened area.

"Aye," Korgan said, eager to try out his new axe...

"I am happy Minsc and Boo are able to see again," Minsc bellowed, "Boo was getting a mite frightened in the dark..."

"Oh?" Viconia chuckled. "Well, he should be... Many an evil creature stalks hapless hamsters in the darkness."

"Is what little Viconia says true, Boo?" Minsc asked his hamster, while taking Boo in a more protective grasp.

The lighted area posed an interesting dilemma. It branched into two tunnels, one being closed off with a door, the other leading into yet more darkness.

"Now if I'd be an daft eyeless," Korgan mused. "I'd 'ave me compound behind a door like that."

Laska, taking the hint, nodded at Korgan once and, without considering the consequences, took a few steps back and ran towards the door, with the intention to break it down with her shoulders. A muffled thud sounded through the tunnel, followed by a second thud when Laska, who had bounced back from the door, fell to the floor as well.

"I swear to you," Laska told her amused friends with a smile, while she was rubbing her sore shoulder. "This has never happened to me before!"

"You may be stronger than the average elven female, abbil," Viconia chuckled. "But that's a thick oaken door!"

"Next time, lass," Korgan grinned, "wait fer the dwarf with the big axe!"

Without futher ado, Korgan aimed his axe to land just beside the obviously magical lock and slammed it down. It took him several swings, but eventually the door gave way and flew open with a loud crash.

"Open," Korgan said cheerfully and grinned at Laska.

But Laska was preoccupied with listening intently. She stood up and walked towards the darker tunnel.

"I hear it too," Viconia muttered to her.

Then, without warning, Laska drew her swords and sped off into the darkness, closely followed suit by her friends.

'This is were Keldorn Firecam falls,' the aged Inquistor thought to himself, while fighting off several shadows. To his credit, he managed to kill many of the beasts, but their numbers were simply too great. Keldorn had faced many a battle, but this was one of the few ones that did not go in his favor. Suddenly, the foreshadow of his impending death overcame his thoughts, yet Keldorn was not afraid. The battle for good might claim his life, but Keldorn did not fear death. Yet another feeling occupied his thoughts. His mind wandered briefly to his family, on the surface, far away from danger. A brief pang of regret passed his features in the dark...

His family... How much time did he actually spent with them? The Church is a harsh mistress, perhaps, but had he truly so little time to find for his family?

But Keldorn pushed the feelings back into his mind... This was a fight to the death afterall, and Keldorn, for one, was ready to embrace it.

Oddly, Keldorn could hear a strange sound coming from the distant tunnel on the far side of the room. As it came closer, he was able to bring more substance to it. It was female... elven... and battleready!

"aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Laska shouted as she ran into the room, swords drawn and jumped forward in the air. As she flew past two shadows, she arched both swords backwards and decapitated them both in mid-flight. She landed on her feet and stood ready to fend off the shadows. Keldorn noticed she was followed suit by three companions, who also had their weapons drawn and engaged the other shadows.

With tide of the battle turned, it lasted only a few moments more. Keldorn took a deep breath and gazed upon the assembled group. It was obvious that they were not aligned with the cultists, yet this party of adventurers was not free of the taint of evil. From years of experience, Keldorn had his senses finetuned to detect evil near, and he scanned the partymembers with narrowed eyes.

The elven female was obviously their leader. Keldorn deduced she was young and brash, and her many tattoos told of her devil-may-care nature. Keldorn grimaced as he sensed a powerful evil deep inside of the elf, although it was, as of yet, far away from the surface of her being.

"Are you quite done staring at us?" the elf spoke up, interrupting his musings.

"I apologize, my Lady," Keldorn said sincerely after hearing the elven female's indignity in her voice. "But I have been beset by foul fiends on my way down. There is a great evil here, my Lady. The source of which, I have yet to find..."

"Aye," The dwarf sighed. "We've found the daft ol' Paladin, alright..."

"Sir Keldorn Firecam, I presume," the elf chuckled.

"That I am, my Lady. At your service..." Keldorn replied.

"My name is Laska, and these are my friends Minsc, Korgan and Viconia. And you were supposed to meet us in the sewers, not down here," the elf admonished.

"Aye, ye daft ol' longlimb!" The dwarf broke in again. "I 'ave been trudging through the shite of those blasted nobles for over a day!"

"I have been waiting for you, but I thought you wouldn't show up after waiting for half a day," Keldorn retorted sharply.

"Blasted Tiefling," Keldorn heard the elf mutter.

"And then there is the matter of certain people of clandestine nature who are to travel with us," Keldorn said while throwing a dirty look in the direction where Korgan and Viconia were standing. "I will not allow a Drow to travel with us! We seek to destroy a force of evil, not embrace it!"

"Do you have a problem with my presence, male?" Viconia fumed, her dark eyes blazing with fury.

"I do, Dr..." But Keldorn was interrupted by Laska.

"Listen to me, ducky!" Laska snarled. "Viconia is my friend. I've known her longer than I have you, and I trust her a lot more than I do you as well! So if you have any problems with her presence, you can leave right now and we'll go on to face the cult on our own! Otherwise, stow your comments and save them for afterwards, but whatever happens, now or later, Viconia STAYS!!"

"If these are your terms..." Keldorn conceded. "But when this quest is over the Drow will be dealt with," he directed at Viconia, who flashed him a very smug grin.

"Okay, let's get to it then," Laska said, while leading her party back to the door Korgan had opened. "Let's go kill these evil buggers, so we can get something to drink soon... "

Unbelievable. This elven female with good intent allows such an evil thing as a Drow into her party, as well as a very bloodthirsty dwarf. But perhaps it was just that he seemed to be attracting the more stranger parties of adventurers lately. Who knows what to expect from this rag-tag band of adventurers.

"Hello, Keldorn," the large ranger cheerfully greeted him. "Would you like to see my Boo?"

'Lying here...Just lying here and lying here and lying here...' she had thought so many times. Her existence had been so exhilarating! Her master was an adventurer of great prowess and had earned the right to wield her many times over. She had seen the exotic locales of the Moonshae Isles, the Great desert of Anauroch, the towers of Calimsham and the horrors of the Underdark. But then, now almost threehundred years ago, her master fell to an insidious trap, while searching for the great device in order to destroy it. And it left her here, in this dank pit. All alone and probably never to be used again... But she would meet her fate with resolve. Perhaps she would not have to give up hope so easily. There were only few of her kind and perhaps they would come looking for her... But no, they would have come for her long ago, then, if they had been looking for her.

A familiar tingling sensation overcame her, then a renewed hope sparked inside of her. 'An ELF! TWO ELVES near!' she thought exictedly. 'Could it be? YES!! One of them is a moon-elf! Hmmm.... This is odd. She's only twenty-one years old, and yet fullgrown... And there is something odd about her. Oh, well. Beggers can't be choosers. Now if she would only come close enough to me so I can contact her!'

"Ye be thinkin' this Lich here has somethin' to do with this cult, eh?" Korgan asked Laska as the party passed through a large mausoleum.

"No... I think it's asleep..." Laska replied. "And let's hope it stays that way... The evil air in this room has the hair on the back of my neck standing on end."

"Ye cannae be afraid o' a walking bonebag, eh?" Korgan mocked.

"No," Laska said calmly. "It's an 'moon elf-thing', I think. Being around undead, makes us nervous for no apparent reason. Something to do with Sehanine Moonbow, I guess."

The group of friends passed through the tunnels leading deeper into the complex, and when the walls of the sewers gave way to a large cavern, adorned with eerie holy symbols, Laska spoke up again.

"First a Lich-tomb and now this!" she mused. "And right under the temple-district too! Does no one know that this is here?"

"Obviously the cultists do," Keldorn replied with a grim expression, "but all the knowledge of the existence of this location, might have disappeared in the burocracy of Athkatla."

"So ye longlimbs donnae even know, what lies under yer own city?" Korgan laughed, "Typical... Just put up a door and forget what's behind it..."

"What are those in the corners, Boo?" Minsc asked his hamster, but he needn't wait for the answer.

The shadows were upon the group before they were prepared for such an attack. The shadows had Minsc and Viconia pinned down in a corner of the room, while Keldorn and Korgan were fighting off the dark creatures back-to-back...

Laska in the meantime, was less lucky than the others. About a dozen shadows threw themselves at her, claws at the ready. She let out a loud scream of fury and slashed the shadows backwards with her swords. At that moment she was joined by Korgan who had dispatched all the shadows attacking him.

"Hah, elfie," Korgan yelled over the sounds of battle. "Ye sure know how to 'ave fun!"

"We aim to please, Mr. Bloodaxe," Laska joked, "Full carnage guaranteed or money back!"

"Aye, that'll be that day!" Korgan laughed.

The battle was ended as quickly as it began, with Laska being to only one being seriously injured. She was bleeding from several wounds as well as the clawmarks showing through her damaged chainmail. Laska didn't mind much, as Viconia started to cast her healing spells. But then, she felt a trickle of blood running down the inside of her left ear. Startled, she felt the top of her ear and was horrified to discover that what she expected to find was true : The tip of her ear was missing.

"Bloody bastards!" she yelled. "They cut of part of my bloody ear!"

"My Lady," Keldorn began lightly, "you have far more serious wounds than that to worry about!"

"Hey!" Laska retorted, "And elf without her ears is only half an elf!"

Viconia snorted, dispite of her friend's plight, since she briefly wondered how Jaheira might have reacted if she was to hear that particular remark.

"Viconia!" Laska yelled. "Can you heal this?"

"I... I'm afraid Shar does not yet grant me the power to perform healing of that magnitude." Viconia stammered. "But perhaps if we can find the missing piece I can magically reattach it..."

"Okay," Laska forced herself to calmth as she said these words. "Okay then... Everybody look around. And please find my ear before some rat makes a meal out of it..."

"Aye," Korgan muttered sheepishly. "I never would 'ave thought, I'd be at the bottom of a dungeon lookin' fer a piece o' elf-ear!"

"Boo's sharp eyes will spot the ear of our friend!" Minsc annouced, while Boo let out a cocky squeak.

"Need I remind you," Keldorn stressed, while everyone was looking for the ear, "that we have to locate an evil cult who removes the eyes of their followers, while we are stuck here for such a frivolous reason?"

Laska fumed, stepped towards the stricken paladin and punched her finger against his chest. "Well, I was expecting this from a bloke whose face looks like he has been attacked by a garden-rake, but this is my EAR we are talking about, so shut up your righteous mouth and get back to looking!"

"Ermmm, yes ma'am..." Keldorn replied meekly.

"Oh, joyous day!" Minsc suddenly shouted "Boo has found it for you!"

"Good Boo!" Laska laughed as she patted the hamster's small head. She then took the bit of ear to Viconia so she could reattach it.

"Well, I certainly feel whole again," she said as she fingered her healed left ear. "Well, like the paladin said, we still have a job to do!" Laska smiled and prepared to lead her party deeper into the dungeon.

"Abbil? Perhaps I should first heal your other wounds before you bleed to death," Viconia chuckled.

"Oh... I forgot about those," Laska replied with a sheepish grin.

"Hold," Laska suddenly spoke up.

"What is it now, my Lady?" Keldorn asked with a hint of irritation.

Instead, Laska said nothing but took a throwing dagger from her belt and threw it at a tile in the floor. Almost immediately, magical energy flared up, turning the dagger into solid stone.

"Ah, good thing ye saw that, lass," Korgan said, "or we'd be a fine set o' garden gnomes right now..."

"Just step over that tile," Laska said. "I guess I was a bit quick with sending that Yoshimo fellow away."

"Boo did not trust him!" Minsc said harshly.

"Im would have spotted that trap miles away..." Laska replied with sadness. "But I guess elven senses are the best thing to have in a dungeon besides a rogue, right Vic?" she smiled smugly at her Drow friend, but as soon as Laska took a step forward, the tile her foot rested on shifted inward...

"Eep," Laska muttered softly as six Skeleton Warriors were summoned.

"That was an amazing plan, Viconia!" Laska replied. "However did you come up with the idea to..."

"Oy!" Korgan yelled, "Let us nay bother with the retelling of our miraculous escape and see if thar be some gold in this here trapmaze."

"We are not here to seek gold, my good dwarf," Keldorn replied. "We are here to further the cause of righteousness. We are here to remove a slight to the sight of the Gods!"

"Shut yer noisehole, longlimb," Korgan snorted. "I be here to get rich!"

"You're both wrong," Laska chuckled. "We're here to kick some ass, right Minsc?"

"Boo agrees! We shall have our boots firmly implanted into the buttocks of evildo'ers everywhere!" Minsc replied.

"Don't look at me," Viconia chuckled. "I'm just here because I have nothing better to do..."

*Pssst... Hey, you!* Laska heard a female voice speaking to her in her mind.

"Who?" Laska started to say, but an irresistable lure made her walk in a different direction than she was planning to... With her party in tow, Laska was led to an alcove in the walls, where the remains of an elven adventurer were sprawled over the floor. She knelt to one knee, examining the skeletal remains. He was a male, and from the symbols on his necklace he hailed from Silverymoon. A trap seemed to have killed him, as a crossbowbolt was lodged in his neck.

*His name was Hyart Longbranch.* The female spoke again, *but now his spirit resides in Arvandor...*

Finally, Laska was able to trace the voice to a glowing longsword laying beside the fallen elf. She gasped as she recognized the symbols on the hilt of the weapon. It was a moonblade...

"Aye, now this is what I call treasure!" Korgan rubbed his hands as he took a closer look at the gems adorning the hilt of the longsword.

"No Korgan," Laska said, still in awe, "you couldn't even lift this blade if you were Moradin himself."

"Oh?" Korgan replied sceptically. "We'll see about that one, lassie!"

*Get that dwarf away from me before he drools all over me... I don't like that greedy look in his eyes...*

"The moonblade doesn't want you near her, Korgan," Laska smiled apologetically.

"Moonblade?" Keldorn said, "I had thought those to be a legend."

"We knew of one being wielded by a former companion..." Viconia said. "And Laska has intimate knowledge of that companion..."

"Shut up, Viconia!" Laska chuckled in return.

*If I might interrupt your delightful discourse,*, the moonblade replied in an uppity fashion. *I have a proposal for you... I have been here for threehundred years now, and the elves of Silverymoon seem to have forgotten about me. So, you, being the only moon-elf here, will be given the honor to wield me, provided you get me out of this hellhole and soon!*

"But... But..." Laska stammered. "What about the 'mysterious tests'? What about..."

*LOOK! I am here now, and you are here now! It's been threehundred years since an elf has been here so I'm not letting this oppertunity pass by... You can prove yourself in the time to come! And judging from your past, that should be interesting to say the least...*

"So you've been reading my mind then..." Laska replied. "But stop doing that or I'll fling you into the nearest pit, no matter how persuasive you are." It might be a fabled moonblade, but not even an ancient relic of her people would be able to push her around!

*Point taken and I apologize. I am Ipsiya, by the way. Now, will you wield me or not?*

"Sure! I can't wait to use you on those cultists," Laska said as she reverently picked up the fabled moonblade and swung it around. Amazed with the well-balanced quality of the sword, as well as the low weight, she took a few more practise swings and shifted it in one of the scabbards on her back. Looking over her shoulder, an uncharacteristic giddyness overcame her, as the name on Ipsiya's hilt slowly changed from 'Hyart Longbranch' into 'Laska Leafwalker'.

*Erggg... Don't you ever clean these? I don't know what's been in here. And I am a Lady after, all.*

"Making damands already, Ipsiya?"

*Only a few...* The sword replied smugly. *But there is something you must know about this dungeon. Let me tell you what Hyart knew...*

"Oy, Keldorn." Korgan asked, while they followed Laska, who was apparently discussing tactics with her new sword. "Do ye ever talk to yer sword?"

"No, I do not... It is only a tool, like any other," he replied.

"Fer shame, longlimb, fer shame," Korgan laughed. "I be treating me axe like it be a lady! I tells it, it be a pretty axe and a good axe. And that I hope it'll spill many a skull in two!"

And once again, Keldorn wondered how got involved with this bunch of nutters...