"They've stopped pounding on the door," Elotta whispered to Viconia.

Indeed, the pounding had stopped. After Anomen had run down the hall, Laska had ordered her party to retreat from the battleground. Keldorn and Laska then ran to the door leading into another corridor on the second floor and covered the escape of their friends. When their last of their friends were in relative safely, Laska and Keldorn cut a bloody path through the surviving trolls and yuan-ti to go after Anomen.

That was the last Viconia had seen of Laska and Keldorn, and she wondered about their fate. For a moment, she cursed the both of them for chasing after that fool. If he had a deathwish, that was HIS business, not that of Laska and Keldorn.

"Minsc hopes Keldorn and Laska are fine," Minsc whispered. "But knowing both their sheer buttkicking abilities, they will win the day! Boo is sure of it!"

"Was that an act of goodness, Minsc? Chasing after that fool?" Viconia sighed. "An act of sheer idiocy more like..."

"They would chase after you, Viconia," Minsc answered a bit sternly. "It's what kindly heroes do!"

"That's besides the point!" Viconia replied. "I would never put myself in such a situation like that in the first place!"

"Och, we be doin' fine," Korgan said. "I rather nay be runnin' fer those green buggers, mind ye. Send me up front when we be movin' off... I reckon we 'ave taken out a score o'yuan-ti and at least eight trolls, so we be winning..."

"Khittix?" Viconia asked. Immediately, Khittix chirped and put his keen spider-senses to work. A few chirps later, Khittix confirmed the trolls were gone, and there were no yuan-ti in the tunnel ahead.

"But Keldorn and Laska..." Elotta began.

"Aye," Gurgan sighed. "This mission be nay goin' ta plan. Who be our leader now?"

"I am!" Viconia spoke. "I am assuming temporary command of this party..."

"Oh," Jan said. "Who died and make you le... Errr," Jan bowed his head. "Excuse me while I have my foot surgically removed from my mouth..."

"I just hope they're alright," Viconia sighed.

"Och, they both be fine," Korgan chuckled. "I be thinkin' it be takin' a lot more than trolls to kill them two. I be more worried about Anomen, though 'worried' be mayhaps a strong term. HAR!"

"You stupid, moronic, bloody... Yeah, bloody! You heard me right the first time! You stupid bloody bastard! No, you EFFING stupid, effing stupid gormless ASS!" Laska raged against a shocked Anomen. "You idiotic scumsucking dung-for-brain cackhanded moron! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Anomen, who has never heard so many expletives spew from the mouth of a lady, was more than a little taken aback.

"Why didn't you HELP OUT VICONIA like I ASKED YOU TO DO! You must have seen she was in dire straits, but you just ran right past her! Or were you to busy thinking of your self and your own glory?" Laska asked.

"At that point," Anomen spoke softly, knowing he was in trouble, "I considered her to be... an acceptable loss..."

"ACCEPT..." Laska muttered, and Keldorn was just able to catch her before she lunged at Anomen.

"Laska!" Keldorn shouted as held the flailing elf around the waist with both arms and still had extreme difficulty keeping her subdued. "Control yourself!"

"Let me AT HIM! SO I can rip off his arms and beat him over the head with them!" Laska shouted.

"I am NOT letting you go before you calm down!" Keldorn replied softly.

"Y-yes..." Laska spoke in a more hushed tone, took a few deep breaths. Keldorn carefully and slowly let go of her, readying himself to grab her again if she would lose her temper for a second time.

"Obviously," Anomen spoke in considerably less arrogant tone of voice than was usually the case. "You must have thought me to be worth saving if..."

"POMPOUS GIT!" Laska screamed. "In my party," she snarled, "there are no such things as 'acceptable losses'! Everybody comes out alive, and if one stays behind, we all stay! How's that for honor?!"

"I must agree with Laska that your performance in combat was abysmal," Keldorn sighed. "Not only did your actions result in the split of our party, but your reluctance to aid Viconia in battle could be considered to as abandonment of your fellows, which..."

"... is considered one of the greatest dishonors among those of the Order," Anomen sighed. "My failure is complete..."

"We might still salvage this mission. But our first goal must be the reunion of our group, and survival..." Keldorn said.

"Sir Keldorn... I... my zeal for justice and valour can become too much. There is an anger in my heart that I...cannot seem to control," Anomen stammered. "I see injustices everywhere and...and I wish to do nothing but strike out against them. But even when I do...I keep on striking out...the hate and anger only grows..."

"Oh, brother," Laska sighed.

"Anomen," Keldorn spoke. "This is a situation you must get under control. If you must prove yourself, do it in such a way that you do not endanger others."

"There are enough people trying to kill us out there, without you playing with our lives," Laska retorted.

"Is that what you think I am doing, arrogant wench?" Anomen shouted. "Playing with your lives? I act merely how a knight should! Self-sacrifice is a necessity at times. Maybe you are simply too much of a coward to be able to see that, elf!"

"Squire Anomen!" Keldorn shouted, very sternly this time. "Do not blame others for your own actions! I know self-sacrifice might be required of any of us at times, but not today! If you continue this line of thinking if you are admitted to the Order, your reckless behaviour could cost lives!"

"What he said!" Laska added.

"Anomen, I know of your father, and I know of your dream," Keldorn said. "But this urge to keep proving yourself must stop! You don't need to prove yourself beyond being a loyal servant of Helm."

"For years I have toiled without any help at all!" Anomen retorted. "All on my own. And those two? Elotta and Gurgan? They get everything thrown in their laps. Elotta is the pampered daughter of a knightess, and Gurgan was offered to join on the very streets!"

"Jealously gig, now?" Laska chuckled. "Like a monkey without bananas who's just staring at the banana trees?"

"Be silent!" Anomen shouted. "Your words are hollow and I won't hear them..."

"In other words, your reply to my insult is 'Oh, yeah?!'," Laska laughed. "Wow, good comeback!"

"Anomen," Keldorn said. "Elotta and Gurgan are humble squires, who do not set impossible goals for themselves..."

"Do you think my dream of joining the Order is an unreachable one?!" Anomen shouted.

"Not at all," Keldorn replied. "But I have met Cor Delryn... And I do not think you can prove yourself to him. Not even if Helm himself would descend from the heavens to back you up..."

Viconia and her party made their way through the corridors of De'Arnise Keep without much opposition, leaving Viconia to believe the surviving trolls and yuan-ti had retreated to another floor, presumably the first one. The remnants of Laska's party passed through a secondary corridor, where Khittix suddenly began to chirp loudly, and pointed one of his legs to one of the bedrooms in the back of the tunnel.

"Two contacts in that room," Viconia said, acting on Khittix's chirping.

"That's my auntie's bedroom!" Nalia said and stormed forward.

"Little Nalia, wait!" Minsc called.

"There could be trolls in there!" Elotta yelled after her, but Nalia did not listen.

"Aunty? AUNTY?" Nalia yelled as she banged on the door. Immediately, the door flew open... and the person who came out almost ended up skewering Nalia on his polearm. When Nalia, now more scared that she had ever been in her life, finally managed to open her eyes, she saw that her friends had wrestled the near-insane guard to the ground.

"Oh, 'tis like a nightmare!" came the scratchy voice. "Yet more hooligans tracking their filth through the halls. We shall have to vacation for a tenday while the whole building is deloused." The scratchy voice soon got a face connected to it : the face of a middle-aged, haughty noblewoman, dressed in fine silk and a foul mood.

"Aunty, please! We have come to rescue you!" Nalia shouted over the loud voice of Lady Delcia Caan.

"Nalia? Oh, my dear, what have you brought home with you this time? Dressed up peasantry, perhaps... Oh well, those that beg cannot afford to be choosy. At least, that is the phrase as I have heard it. Shall we get to the business of a rescue? I assume that is what you are here for?" Lady Delcia Caan said. "Please go fetch my luggage so we can be off. All my seven suitcases in my room and be careful not to break anything valuable..."

"What?!" Gurgan chuckled. "This stuffed old crow cannay be serious!"

"Please do be quick about it, I am catching an alarming sniffle and could do with a warm fire. If I catch my death I'll have the hide of the peasant in charge of the heat," Lady Delcia growled.

"Absolutely!" Jan chuckled. "Round up all the little ingrates who haven't bled to death and dock their pay for their laziness! Finding good servants is bad enough, a noble lady shouldn't have to put up with laggards, as well! You are a brave, brave woman, my dearie."

"Well, nicely voiced for someone of dubious breeding. Perhaps... no, one must remember one's station," Lady Delcia cracked a slight smile of contempt. "Perhaps you are unsure where your place is? Below mine, and while your current actions may place my life in your hands, they certainly do not elevate you above your true station."

"I thought it would take me a while longer to meet the face of true evil," Elotta said. "But here she is..."

"I am not evil, nor am I your enemy," Lady Delcia shot back. "I am simply your better, and the better of those that serve me. Now stand aside and let me pass, I've languished here quite long enough."

Before Delcia Caan could get away, Viconia snarled, grabbed her by the arm to shove her into a wall, and pressed the metal hilt of her flail against her tender throat. "Listen to me, Elg'Caress. I am Drow. I am as far above you as you are over a cockroach if the teachings of my people are to be believed."

"Let aunty go!" Nalia demanded, but was silenced when Korgan held up his axe.

"Oy, oy, oy!" Korgan replied. "Ye nay be interruptin' this! Be glad Laska ain't 'ere, or she would be beatin' out all 'er bloody teeth and feed 'er to the yuan-ti!"

"Now, I don't go around flaunting my supposed superiority," Viconia said as lady Delcia struggled against Viconia's iron grip. "But I still do not like to be addressed as such by a dressed-up monkey whose main concern is what dress to wear today when people are dying around her. Let's find out if your blood is really blue... Your face already is..." Then, Viconia released her, causing the noblewoman to drop to the floor in a fit of coughing.

"Ah," Minsc said as Lady Delcia lay cowering on the floor before Viconia's feet. "Little Viconia does not get enraged all that often, but you have managed to push all the right buttons at the appropriate times, yessir!" When Minsc was finished, an indignant series of squeaks sounded from his pocket. "Oh, and Boo says that you are, errrr, I can't say that in public, nosir!!"

"Och," Korgan chuckled. "I be likin' it more if I should pull the blue-blooded wench over me lap and show her a time like no lady I've e'er met! HAR! HAR!"

"What's stopping you?" Viconia grinned. "Nalia!" she called and dragged the young noblewoman away. "I want you to tell me where a large group of trolls might gather...."

"Come to Korrrrrrgan!" the dwarf grinned evilly as Viconia and Nalia rounded about the corner.

"And that be fer treatin' us like dirt!" Korgan said while his hand slammed against the buttocks of the flailing biddy put over his lap.

"I'll have you flogged!" Lady Delcia shouted as she unsuccessfully tried to free herself.

"And this be fer wantin' ta 'ave yer good buddy Korgan flogged! HAR! HAR!" Korgan laughed and spanked her again.

"Insolent low-live commoner!" Lady Delcia dared to say. "You're nothing but gutter slime."

"Me axe 'ere begs to differ. Would ye like a proper discussion with me axe?" Korgan said. "Or would ye rather talk to the 'and?"

"The... hand," Lady Delcia sighed and received another smack on the butt.

"Ah, and this is fer the 'beneath me'-remark," Korgan smacked once more.

"Where's a troll when you need one?" Lady Delcia cried.

"Oy, oy, oy, oy!" Korgan snarled. "That remark be costin' ye another smack! Just like the smack ye've earned fer yerself when ye called us dressed-up peasantry. I nay dressed up fer anything in me life!"

"The first thing I'll have rebuilt when this is over, are the gallows!" Lady Delcia cried.

"Ach, another smack fer ye!"

"Nurrrrrgggghhhh!" Laska grimaced as she used an old polearm as a lever to lift the heavy rocks blocking the barricaded door. The metal polearm bent like a straw, and even when Laska wrapped her legs around it and hung from it with all the weight of her body and armor, the rock refused to budge even a millimeter from its place. Eventually, the polearm snapped, causing Laska to yelp as she crashed to the floor.

"Oh, give it up!" Anomen, who had settled himself on one of the crates, while Keldorn leaned against the wall.

"I don't see you coming up with any plans, beard-o!" Laska retorted as she got to her feet and sat down on a crate on the opposite side of the room. Laska sighed, picked a little pocket flask from her pouch and took a swig.

"Typical," Anomen muttered.

"NOW WHAT?!" Laska snarled.

"You're just like my father," Anomen retorted. "A lewd drunkard who grabs the bottle at the first sight of trouble... well, the first sight of dawn, actually..."

"Guess again," Laska snarled and tossed him the flask.

"What?" Anomen said after sniffing at the flask. "Lime-juice?"

"Alcohol and sword-fighting don't mix," Laska chuckled. "I'd probably end up cutting off my own arms..."

*'You sometimes almost pull that one off without the aid of alcohol,'* Ipsiya chuckled.

"Care to try your luck with the bloody rocks, Ip?" Laska muttered.

"Well, it seems I was wrong," Anomen reluctantly muttered.

"I do like to slam down mugs between adventures, Anomen, and you should know, since you apparently have been following me around town," Laska chuckled.

"That's not true!" Anomen retorted, his face glowing again. "I only looked... errr, through your w-window when..."

"It was early morning and I jumped in the pool wearing my swim-suit? Or stark-naked for that matter?" Laska chuckled at Anomen's discomfort.

"No," Anomen said, eager to change the subject. "But my father..."

"Did he stare at nude elves too?" Laska chuckled. "Like father, like son!"

"Don't SAY that!" Anomen shouted, then sighed. "I remember when I first achieved the rank of squire. It had been a difficult task...my father had refused to be my patron, so I was no better off than a commoner would be."

"Oh, you poor baby," Laska mock-pouted. "Having to work just as hard as a commoner..."

"A knight by the name of Sir Blethyn took pity on me and had me squired," Anomen said, ignoring the tattooed elf's barbs. "I was proud during the ceremony, and happy...but it was not to last. My father, Lord Cor, stumbled into the Order's headquarters... he was filthy drunk and full of rage. He began shouting at the knights that I had been stolen from him. That I was a worthless and weak son who should not be in the Order. Sir Ryan Trawl told him that I had proven myself, but the old bastard would hear none of it. They were finally forced to drag him out of the headquarters, kicking and screaming. Trust my father to ruin the one moment of pure pleasure I was able to steal during my time in the Order, the one thing I had achieved despite all of his opposition!"

"That's tough..." Laska said. "Well, my foster-father and me were often at odds, mostly due to my pigheadedness, but he loved me no less. I never knew my mother, though..."

"That would explain a lot," Anomen muttered.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" Laska snarled, this time getting ready for a big fistfight.

It would never come, though, since a gust of cold wind suddenly blew through her hair. Glancing to her side, she noticed a new passageway in the side of the wall which led to a downward spiraling staircase.

"Ah," Keldorn chuckled. "That explains while one section of the wall was colder. While you two were bickering, I managed to find a switch to reveal this passage. It was the candlestick actually... A classic..."

Laska grinned at Keldorn... They were back in the fight...

"HOLD HIM!" Viconia shouted as Gurgan, Minsc and Elotta wrestled the guard known as Glacius to the ground. The armored giant was foaming at the mouth and stammering non-sensical strings of words rapidly. He was obviously charmed, and the three fighters held down the struggling man as Viconia prepared a spell of healing.

"Hold him still or the spell will fail!" Viconia shouted. A few moments later, a blue light descended over the struggling man, who almost instantly relaxed. Almost reluctantly, Minsc, Gurgan and Elotta let go of Glacius, who caught his breath and slowly sat up. This battle had been taking place in the sitting-room of the keep, and several of the expensive pieces of furniture had already been torn up by swords and other weapons.

"My... my gods," Glacius muttered. "I... I was... charmed? Oh, what have I done!"

"Calm yourself," Viconia said, addressing the downed guard. "I have questions! What is the last thing you remember."

"Hey, hey, oh tyrannical Drow leader of ours," Jan said. "Coming off a charm-spell can be quite a rush. You might never get all yours memories back in place, like my uncle Reggie, who's now mentally getting younger while he advances in age, but that might have something to do with the Black Lotus he crumples in his turnip-juice..."

"I... I was fighting the trolls with my squad while Dougal, err, Lord De'Arnise assembled the Great Flail, which was a left-over from his adventuring days. Seeing him wield it was a sight to behold. The Acid and Fire-head of the weapon bit into the very being of the trolls as he sent at least half a dozen trolls to their maker, but... then one of the snake-people cast a spell on me and... the magic made me hit Dougal in the back of the head. I watched as they dragged him away and as they killed the remaining squad of guards, but I could do nothing..." Glaicus lamented. "Here," he said, handing Viconia the Flail of Ages. "I see your choice of weapon is the Flail. Dougal would want it to be used against the attacker."

Viconia took the flail and felt its power coursing through her veins. Grinning to herself, she rose the multi-headed weapon for some practise-swings.

"Nalia," Glaicus said. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's... it's not your fault Glaicus," Nalia sighed and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"We seek to open the gate," Minsc said, "so we and the other soldiers can kick some serious asses!"

"I will help the best I can," Glaicus offered.

"OY!" Korgan shouted as he entered the sitting room. "So 'ere ye be? I be lookin' 'igh and low fer ye lot!"

"How is..." Viconia grinned.

"Ach," Korgan chuckled. "She nay be able ta sit fer over a month! HAR HAR!"

The old dungeons were indeed that... old dungeons. As Keldorn, Anomen and Laska stepped off the spiraling stairs, they were confronted with many instruments of torture, ranging from shackles on the wall, to iron maidens, pokers and guillotines. Luckily, judging from the rust on all these metal contraptions of doom, none of them had been used in at least thirty years.

"Boy, Nalia wasn't kidding about these cellars," Laska whispered.

"If these walls could talk," Anomen shuddered.

"Evil has taken place in these halls," Keldorn muttered. "Its foul stench still lingers..."

"I think you might be smelling the six Umberhulks ahead," Laska said as they silently crept through the archway to peer into a larger room beyond. Indeed, a number of six umberhulks were standing in close proximity to each other in what looked like a storeroom. They were gorging themselves on a basket of vegetables in one of the corners.

"Is it just me, or are those cases they're eating from labeled 'Jansen Turnip Emporium'?" Laska asked.

"You tell me," Keldorn whispered. "You have better eyes than I have."

Deciding to put her better eyes to good work, Laska quietly scanned the room, and noticed two tunnels on the right side of the room, which appeared to lead to a series of cells, and, more importantly, each could be closed off with a sturdy portcullis.

"Hey," Laska whispered. "I bet those tunnels meet in a U-bend."

"Ah, I see," Keldorn chuckled. "A good plan..."

"What is?" Anomen whispered quizzically.

"But what if you're wrong?" Keldorn asked.

"Well, then I fight myself out," Laska chuckled. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Keldorn confirmed.

"Ready for what?" Anomen asked.

But Laska had already taken off. A few moments later, she was standing in front of the leftmost gate and whistled loudly. In an instant, she belted into the left corridor with six hungry umberhulks in hot pursuit. Keldorn dragged Anomen into the room and instructed the clueless Helmite to yank the handle that would drop the portcullis. To be on the safe side, Keldorn decided he would pull the handle of the corridor where Laska would exit himself. A few moments later, Laska turned around the bend with six snarling fiends chasing her and shouted for Keldorn to drop the portcullis.

Keldorn complied, and Anomen did the same. Laska jumped and dove forward, sliding under the dropping portcullis in the nick of time, and just as the snarling Umberhulks crashed into the metal grates. The creatures snarled and mauled, but the metal never budged.

"Nice one, guys..." Laska chuckled. "Now to deal with those trolls..."

Evening had fallen, and the waning light of the sun cast a reddish glow over the limestone keep. Viconia and her party lay on their bellies on the upper parapet to look down into the courtyard. From the looks of it, the remaining monsters in the keep were gathering for an attack on their old siege-camp, undoubtedly wanting to rid themselves of the troublemakers.

"Twenty-eight yuan-ti swordsmen, fourteen trolls, two yuan-ti mages," Viconia muttered.

"Boo says it will be easy to take them out, for we are great and powerful heroes," Minsc announced.

"I think they are preparing to launch a surprise attack on the siege camp," Glaicus said.

"But... but... Daleson is there! And Metigo! And Arat and Yang-ja!" Nalia wailed.

"Do not worry," Viconia grinned evilly. "We have a nasty surprise for them, but we need reinforcements to take out this large a force. We might have been able to take them out alone if Laska and Keldorn were here, but as things are now, we need someone to open the front gate, while the rest of us distracts the strike-force."

"I'll bloody do it!" Gurgan volunteered.

"Be careful, Gurgan," Elotta cautioned.

"To action then!" Viconia shouted, and the party jumped onto the lower parapet. Making as much noise as possible, the party ran down the stairs to confront the startled strike-force, while Gurgan belted across it towards the rudder controlling the gate.

Immediately, Viconia's party encountered more opposition than they had counted on. Viconia swung her flail and instantly killed one of the trolls, while the others concentrated on eliminating the yuan-ti mages, but the towering Otyugh on the other side of the courtyard had not been visible from their former perch. The disgusting creature flailed its tentacles towards the party, and drove them back to the stairs.

Meanwhile Gurgan crashed his full weight into one of the yuan-ti warriors, sending the creature tumbling down from the wall. Continuing his path, Gurgan slammed his shield into a second yuan-ti guard, sending him flying as well. As he reached the rudder, the squire kicked at the handle and the drawbridge came crashing down. Gurgan's smile of satisfaction disappeared as he noticed the Otyugh below was attacking his friends. With a savage warcry, the human raised by a dwarf jumped off the parapet and buried his sword into the brain of the savage creature, killing it instantly.

"Jan, the signal!" Viconia yelled, and immediately, Jan threw a magical spell of Fireball into the air, which exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

Immediately, Yang-ja and several other elite-troops of the De'Arnise guard emerged from their hiding places near the keep and stormed through the front gate. The tide of battle clearly turned, the would-be strike force was quickly dealt with...

"Weak grrthunks! Me smell you!" a ridiculously huge troll yelled at Laska as they had entered what looked like an ornate burial chamber. Many statues lined the walls, depictions of the nobles for which this keep had been the seat of their power. Also, the room was filled with three giant trolls, as well as a downed injured man, who seemed to be having trouble breathing. "You stupid to come here! TorGal kill you all, make you food for Rocksmash pack!"

"Foul beast!" Anomen yelled in a tone that made Laska cringe. "You will fall this day!

"Indeed," Keldorn backed Anomen up this time. "Your evil stops here!"

"TorGal not die here! Only stupids who are not nobles die, and we no hurt castle! That was deal! It good deal and Rocksmash not break good deal! You die like should, then Caan and Stronger reward Rocksmash pack!" TorGal snarled back at the three adventurers.

"What's a Caan?" Laska snorted.

"Comrades-in-arms!" Anomen shouted. "We shall fight this day! To the death!"

"To the death?" Laska chuckled. "Why not 'kill these burks, and we meet at the bar later'?"

At that precise moment, the door to the room flew open, and out poured the rest of Viconia's party, flanked by the elite members of the De'Arnise guard, all armed with firebows and crossbows

"TorGal kill you... you errr," TorGal said, but before he could finish his sentence, his body had been skewered by three dozen flame-arrows...

"Nice one, Viconia," Laska chuckled.

"I turn control of this party over to you," Viconia said, "and gladly so, I might add..."

"FATHER!" Nalia shouted and ran up to the wounded man lying in the back of the room. Immediately, Viconia joined her and examined the dying Lord of the manor.

"These wounds are deep and many, and I have already cast my only memorized healing-spell," Viconia said, "but I still have plenty of curative magics left."

Nalia bit her tongue in nervousness as Viconia cast spell after spell on her father, and even though her father seemed healthier with every spell, she was still worried.

"There," Viconia said as Lord Dougal De'Arnise was completely healed.

Immediately, Lord Dougal De'Arnise, a kindly but strong middle-aged man with auburn hair rose to sit up. "Dammit!" he suddenly shouted. "Dammit, dammit, dammit! Couldn't you have waited a few minutes longer? TorGal was just about to reveal everything!"

"Well," Viconia chuckled. "If you like, I can try to raise him for you..."

"Absolutely not!" Dougal chuckled heartily. "Thank you for saving my life, dear lady..."

"Father!" Nalia cried tears of joy as she embraced Dougal.

"Well," Laska spoke up. "The troll did mention someone named Caan... and something named stronger..."

"What?!" Dougal roared. "I KNEW it!"

"Aunty?!" Nalia spoke up. "I don't believe it!"

"We'll deal with her later, pumpkin," Dougal smiled. "For now, let's just pick up the pieces first... Thank you all!"