*** Session 08 - Scene 2 (of 9) ***

After gaining little information from the guard, Mulroney leaves the tavern and begins to wander the streets. Out of ideas, he decides to see if he can attract any attention by muttering about clowns as he does so.

An hour or so later, he finds himself walking down a side street by himself. He notices the lantern up ahead has burned out. He starts to get wary of his environment, just as the lantern behind him goes out.

Acting quickly, Mulroney has Shoes cast a globe of daylight spell to illuminate the area. He just catches sight of a humanoid figure darting behind one of the buildings as it lights up. All he could really tell from the brief glimpse is that the figure was man-sized and wearing black.

Mulroney calls out, telling his "friend" there is no need to hide as he isn't a threat. From behind the cover, he hears a high-pitched, somewhat unhinged sound of a man giggling and saying he is a "funny one".

The witch says he is no clown but is looking for one. The giggling voice says he is no clown. As he talks, Mulroney hears noises suggesting the man is climbing up the side of one of the buildings.

Mulroney has Shoes cast levitation on him, lifting him up. He asks, "Where are you going friend?" and saying that two can play at this game.

Emerging from behind part of the roof is a very pale bald man with white skin. His eyes appear dark, but a closer look sees they have black circles around them, but the eyes themselves have no iris or pupil – just a small oval of pure white. His hands have long, sharp nails and as he speaks Mulroney can see his teeth have been filed down to sharp points. He tells Mulroney, "You shouldn't waste it!"

Confused, Mulroney asks him what it is he shouldn't waste. In his giggle-mad voice, the figure says he was referring to "The tasty energy of yours." Mulroney begins to understand what kind of madman he is dealing with as the figure continues to say how he can tell Mulroney will be even more delicious than his last meal.

Mulroney says he has more energy where that came from, suggesting he can use it to kill the insane, giggling man. He asks who the man is and what he wants.

The strange mutant man tells Mulroney he can call him "Charno" just as he draws a dagger and sword from his belt. Seeing the man is getting ready to jump at him and attack, Mulroney has Shoes cast a cloud of smoke to obscure him. Mulroney himself casts armor of Ithan to protect himself.

Unfortunately, Charno's natural mutant abilities also give him the ability to sniff out Mulroney's position in the darkness. He tells Mulroney he is being naughty by trying to hide and jumps out at him, slamming into him in mid-air. The added weight of Charno is more than Shoes can control, and the two crash to the ground.

Charno backflips off Mulroney and strikes at him in a flourish with his dagger and long sword. Luckily, Mulroney's magic armor protects him. He does manage to parry the second and third sword strikes with his staff.

As Mulroney stands up, Shoes attempts to levitate Charno into the air, but the mutant resists. Mulroney uses his own levitation spell and succeeds in levitating the man. Charno shrieks about Murloney "cheating".

Mulroney says attacking him was not fair. Charno says he needs Mulroney's magic energy. Mulroney senses an opportunity, and offers they could work together. Charno insists he wants to feed on him.

The witch says he can't help Charno if he eats him. Charno corrects him, saying he doesn't need to eat his flesh just his soul. Mulroney doesn't like the sound of that either.

Mulroney tries to offer a deal, saying he could promise more souls if Charno agrees to work with him. The gibbering mutant isn't so sure, saying he hasn't encountered as strong of a flavor as Mulroney in a while.

The witch tries to get Charno to go after the clowns on the edge of town, but Charno isn't interested. Mulroney tries saying he is a coward, but Charno insists he is a hunter but chooses his prey more carefully than that.

Deciding the man needs a stronger incentive, Mulroney has Shoes blast the man with a fire bolt. He follows it up with an energy bolt. Getting weakened by the blasts, Charno calls Mulroney naughty again and says this is such a waste of energy.

As Shoes is blasting Charno again, Mulroney can hear some people approaching from the next street over. Apparently, all the smoke, energy bolts, and blasts of fire have somehow attracted attention. Mulroney drops the levitation spell, sending Charno dropping to the ground. He hits his head and no longer appears to be conscious as they run away.

*** Session 8 - Scene 3 (of 9) ***

Mulroney and Shoes get away before anyone shows up. He tries hiding behind a nearby building and listening, but hears nothing. After a short time, he has Shoes peek around the corner. By the time he looks, there is no one there – whatever happened appears to be over.

The witch decides to make his way back into a more well-lit area. He is stopped by one of the Delaque guards. The guard questions him about seeing any strange smoke or lights in the area, saying some people had reported such things. Mulroney says he saw nothing of that sort and asks if the people making the report could have been drinking.

The Delaque guard says there is concern someone is using illegal abilities. Mulroney is appalled at the idea of magic use, saying he is a member in good standing of the prestidigitator's guild and would be happy to help in any way he can. The guard asks to see Mulroney's union card. After verifying he is indeed a licensed prestidigitator, he says they haven't found anything yet so he should let one of them know if he does hear anything.

Mulroney gives the man one of his calling cards and says to contact him if he is ever in need of a show. The guard asks Mulroney if he can perform the trick where a woman is sawed in half and turns into two dwarves. Mulroney assures him he can perform that trick.

After leaving the guard, Mulroney goes back to wandering around the streets until he eventually gives up and retires back to the local inn. A day or so later, he spots his companions checking into the inn, with Tickles having joined them and Nardig carrying a large chest.

Mulroney is eating his continental breakfast of moss muffins and friend rat as he greets them. Tickles notes they are very tired. Spotting the chest, Mulroney asks what is in it. Tickles says to not worry about it, they'll show him later.

After refusing Mulroney's offer to help carry the chest, the others head up to their room with Mulroney following. Once in the room with the door closed, Mulroney asks about the chest again. Tickles says it is a bounty and asks if Mulroney ever went to Zarzote to secure the contract on the harlequins with Otto, the head of the clown guild.

As Mulroney explains he still needs to travel to Zarzote, Deadly Snow opens the chest to reveal the three severed clown heads (along with the severed elf penis from the one she killed at Dwute's shop). Mulroney is surprised, saying they must have found the clowns then.

Thinking a moment, Mulroney asks that since they found (and killed) the clowns, they must have discovered the information they needed about how to access the pocket dimension the Black Vault is located in. Tickles says they didn't have any information.

Mulroney stresses the clowns could access the vault so they must have had some information on how they do that. He asks again if they got the information. Tickles explains they weren't very talkative as they were mimes.

The witch then asks if there are more of them then. Deadly Snow simply says, "probably". Mulroney doesn't find that very encouraging. He asks if they separated these clowns from the main bunch, but Tickles explains that was all they found.

Mulroney is somewhat exasperated that they killed the only clowns they found, as they are the only link they have into the Black Vault was the clowns. He also isn't sure why there is a clown phallus in the box.

Just to make sure he has all the information he repeats it back to Tickles – they found the clowns, they got no information out of them, then they killed the clowns. Tickles says that is about the long and short of it.

Mulroney says it is too bad they didn't get a chance to try and interrogate them. Tickles corrects him, saying they did bring one of them back to the astrologer's shop for questioning, noting that is where they got the chest.

Further exasperated, Mulroney can't believe they hauled a clown into town and went back into the shop where the astrologer was murdered. Deadly Snow and Tickles assure him they were discreet. As Mulroney gets increasingly agitated, Tickles tells him to calm down as his yelling isn't going to bring the clowns back to life.

Tickles and Deadly Snow take a moment to tell Mulroney a few more details about their investigation into the death of Dwute the astrologer and how they talked to his friend, Crentist. They also mention hearing about Buckman, Dwute's cousin, who Mulroney asks some questions about to see if there is any way they can use the man as a patsy for their criminal activities later.

When they mention the bald, pale man with dark eyes Mulroney says he ran into a strange creature matching that description. He says the creature gave his name as Barno, or Bargo, or Charny... something like that. Mulroney says the creature tried to eat his soul but he got away. Tickles quips about Mulroney's luck in that he has no soul to eat.

Ignoring the jibe, Mulroney says the man cornered him but he and Shoes took care of him. Tickles asks the witch to clarify, asking if he actually killed the man. Mulroney says he wasn't sure if he was dead or not as he was in the process of killing him when the town guards showed up.

Deadly Snow says they found a strange word written down on the astrologer's notes but she can't recall what it was. Tickles remembers it was Charno. Mulroney realizes that is the same name as the man who attacked him.

Deadly Snow wants more clarification on what happened to Charno. Mulroney explains he dropped the man from forty feet in the air so he's hopefully dead. She asks about where the body is, but Mulroney doesn't know since there was nothing there when he checked later.

Tickles says it sounds like there is more of a story there so Mulroney explains how he was out looking for information on the clowns (noting he was doing that while the others were killing them) and ran into Charno in a dark side street. Tickles pipes in they do have some information about the clowns – there are three less of them than there used to be.

After Mulroney explains his story, Deadly Snow wants to make sure Charno won't be coming after them in the future, but Mulroney isn't sure the man is actually dead. Since the guard he talked to didn't mention a body, there's no way to know but Deadly Snow suspects the mutant killer may still be at large.

Tickles doesn't understand how Dwute knew Charno's name. Mulroney does offer that Charno said he ate the soul of another, so it's possible the astrologer had magical powers and foretold his own death. Tickles, looking directly at Mulroney, notes the astrologer got what he deserved for practicing magic.

Some time is then spent with everyone catching up on what each has done and what they want to do next. Mulroney isn't thrilled at finding out they left a headless, dickless clown body in the astrologer's shop (where they've been seen) and are carrying the heads around in a box taken from the shop (which is fairly distinctive). He considers concocting a plan to frame either Crentist or Buckman for either the killing or the magic incident, but ultimately decides it would be riskier than letting sleeping dogs lie.

Tickles eventually suggests they head to Zarzote to collect the bounty (before the heads rot too much) and ask the clown guild if they have any more information on the renegades that could point to where more of them are. Mulroney says the fox isn't half as dumb as he looks, especially since he wants them to get out of town as soon as possible before the elf body is discovered and they are arrested.

*** Session 8 - Scene 4 (of 9) ***

It takes a day or so to make it to Zarzote, but they encounter no danger along the way. Mulroney decides to go in to town by himself first, as he doesn't want to be heading in with a box full of heads. The others will follow later, and arrange to meet up with him at the Lido Hot Springs Inn, the fanciest inn in town.

In contrast to the downtrodden industrial feel of Rikki, Zarzote has a happier, more relaxed atmosphere and people even smile at him and wave as he passes. People he gets too close to even stop to make pleasant small talk. Mulroney figures part of that is due to the more recreational nature of the town's business around its famous hot springs.

One helpful citizen points Mulroney in the direction of the official building for the Guild of Kleintro. The man says they love clowns in Zarzote, and suggests Mulroney see the show put on by local celebrity clown Bello and his "wheel of death" trick. Mulroney says it sounds hilarious.

When he gets there, he finds a tall clown wearing a soldier-type outfit standing guard at the door. The imposing clown asks what he wants and Mulroney explains he is there to see Otto.

The soldier asks Mulroney for his clown guild card, but Mulroney explains he is a magician not a clown. He asks to see Mulroney's prestidigitator card instead. As he looks it over, Mulroney tells him if he gives him a gold piece he can make it disappear. The soldier laughs heartily at the joke and suggests perhaps Mulroney could be a clown after all.

Recognizing Mulroney's name, the soldier says Otto has been expecting him. He knows Mulroney is the one who knows Captain Spaulding.

Mulroney is shown into Otto's office. The older clown greets him by name and says he's heard from Captain Spaulding that he can make their problem disappear. Mulroney agrees as a magician he can make a great number of things disappear, but there will be a bit of a charge.

Otto says the guild is anxious to get rid of the renegade clowns. Mulroney says he can understand why and asks for more details. Otto explains what he knows – they are elves (which is unusual), they have a camp out in Rikki, there are three of them, and they all wear colorful outfits with death's head style masks.

Mulroney picks up that Otto said there were only three and double-checks the figure. Otto reiterates they only know of a small troupe of three being active in the area.

Trying not to become dismayed at the dead-end lead for getting into the Black Vault, Mulroney asks Otto more about the clowns. He asks if they've ever talked to them or tried to get them to join the guild. Otto explains that anyone clowning without a permit isn't funny and conversation is never their next move after hearing about it.

Mulroney offers perhaps they didn't know about the guild. Otto says they should know, and even though there isn't a local chapter in Rikki clowning without a license is still a menace that needs to be controlled. Mulroney is forced to agree the magician's guild operates in much the same manner, always taking a poor view of scabs though he they don't usually take such extreme measures at first.

Otto insists the reaction is reasonable and says there are too many strange things going on in the area lately to allow such activities to go unpunished. Picking up that more may be going on, Mulroney asks Otto to elaborate.

The guildmaster says in addition to the elves, there was the mysterious hooded thief from a couple of weeks back. Mulroney asks for more information, and Otto explains a local gem merchant was robbed by a mysterious hooded man who displayed remarkable abilities in unarmed combat techniques the likes of which he hasn't seen before.

Otto also says the man left some sort of strange symbol behind. Mulroney asks what it was, and Otto draws out a pattern of dots. Not sure what it is, Mulroney takes the piece of paper to look into later. He tells Otto he'll let him know if he finds out anything more about that.

Turning the conversation back to the renegade clowns, Mulroney asks what it is worth to the guild to get rid of their headache. Otto says he told Otto the contract was for 500 gold a head. Mulroney starts talking about the complexity of the job and how he just has him and his cat, though Otto says he was supposed to know someone.

Mulroney counters with 800 gold a head, but Otto rejects it saying that was too much. However, if he can get the job done within the next two days he'll pay 2,000 gold total for all three heads. Mulroney agrees to the terms.

Otto tells Mulroney he can just bring the heads in to him, but the witch is cautious about hauling around severed heads in town in case the local constabulary gets upset at that sort of thing. He wants Otto to have someone meet him outside of town for the exchange and says he can have it ready by tomorrow. Otto is surprised he can do it as quick as that, but Mulroney says he likes to make the customer happy.

Agreeing to Mulroney's plan, Otto says he'll have the clown at the door (who is apparently named "Corporal Punishment") come meet him at a predetermined location the next morning. Otto has Corporal Punishment come in and they explain the plan.

Mulroney then asks about the payment delivery, suggesting he doesn't want 2,000 gold delivered to him outside town where it could be dangerous. Otto agrees he can have Corporal Punishment deliver a note of credit from the local banker, Mordecai.

*** Session 8 - Scene 5 (of 9) ***

Settling things with the clown guild, Mulroney begins heading back to meet up with the others when a stranger calls him over. Mulroney is intrigued but not too concerned and makes small talk with the man for a minute.

The man eventually offers that Mulroney is a friend of the fox-man from Beartooth. Mulroney asks if he knows the man. The man says he is a friend of someone who knows of the coyle. Mulroney starts to catch on that this man is likely a member of the local thieves' guild and wants to pass along some sort of message.

The man says Tickles is in a little bit of trouble. Mulroney asks how so, and the man explains Tickles refused an invitation the other day and that is bad for business.

Mulroney offers that the fox-man isn't very bright and may not have understood the invitation and the significance of not attending to the offer. He then offers to assist in the situation.

The man tells Mulroney to pass on word to Tickles that he should come to the Laubenstein Inn tonight at midnight. Mulroney asks if there is any other information, and the man says only to say that "Mr. Morlock" will be waiting for him.

After getting the message, Mulroney heads over to the Lido Inn. He's half-surprised to find the others did not get arrested coming in to town with the box full of heads.

Mulroney catches the others up on his conversation with Otto and gives them a hard time for killing the clowns as according to Otto there were only three. He then discusses the contract he made, though only mentions the 500 gold per head and not the extra bonus, and the plan to meet up with Corporal Punishment in the morning. Mulroney wants to leave the heads in the inn, so he'll take Nardig with him as muscle while the others stay behind at the inn.

Tickles is confused by the plan and doesn't understand why Mulroney wants to leave the heads behind if he's meeting the clown out of town. Mulroney doesn't want to risk moving the heads through the gate again and notes he doesn't fully trust the clowns.

Mulroney also explains he led the clowns to believe the elves weren't dead yet in order to secure a better fee. Tickles calls that a wise move. Mulroney says people often use such words to describe him.

As Mulroney explains the plan, including his insistence he'll be giving the lion's share of the gold to them for doing all the work (describing himself as a "giver"), Deadly Snow thinks over in her mind the plan she and Tickles already came up with to secure the gold. They don't trust Mulroney because of his past actions, and have her own idea on how to make sure they and Nardig collect the money they are rightly owed for the clowns they killed.

Mulroney also shows them the picture of the symbol Otto showed him. Deadly Snow recognizes it and takes out her own version – it is the constellation of the azure dragon, and clearly connected to the man she was hired to find.

Before the conversation about the symbol can get anywhere, Mulroney mentions the more immediate concern of the man he spoke with and the need for Tickles to visit Morlock at the Laubenstein Inn. He tells Tickles he should take the severed elf penis with him to show he's a man who means business but Tickles doesn't like the idea and Deadly Snow seems to be the one holding on to it as a trophy anyway.

*** Session 8 - Scene 6 (of 9) ***

Before anything more happens, Tickles makes sure to take some time to enjoy the hot springs. He and Deadly Snow then decide to find the local temple. Nardig could use some healing as well, but is still short of money.

The shrine is hidden in a secret room in the back of a small café called Magoo's, rumored to be controlled by a group of warlocks. The shrine is to a local god of corpulence and death, Jar'ri. The priestess, Althea, greets the two and tells Tickles (who is still sweating from the hot springs) to "cool down boy, rest easy".

After getting healed, they eventually make their way over to the Laubenstein Inn. By this point at night, the common room of the inn has a modest-sized crowd.

Deadly Snow goes in to look around. She looks for anyone looking for someone (hoping to spot Morlock), but doesn't see anyone. She does overhear someone ask about a room and the innkeeper explains the entire upper floor has been rented out by a private party.

She heads over to the stairs to investigate, but finds a couple of orc mercenaries guarding the stairs. She decides to try a different tactic and sneaks into the kitchen to find any servant stairs.

With workers moving in and out they don't notice the small girl move into the kitchen. She quickly moves past everyone and finds the servant stairs in the back. She quietly makes her way up to near the top and stops to listen. She can hear a few people upstairs moving around – one of whom is a servant dropping off some wine for Mr. Morlock.

Since the servant will be heading her way, Deadly Snow heads back down to the kitchen. She decides to try and grab a plate of food but is caught by one of the kitchen workers. She bluffs her way out of it by pretending she works for Morlock and is getting the food for him. She takes the plate and heads back up the stairs.

When she gets to the top, she spots a couple more orc guards standing outside the large doors of the suite at the end of the hall. She tries heading over to the orcs and saying she's bringing the food for Morlock, but they are suspicious.

Yukiko attempts to bluff the guards by pretending her mother has taken her into work tonight. The orcs don't seem to buy the story; one of them grabs the plate and tells her he'll take it into Morlock. He then tells her to leave.

As she leaves, Deadly Snow tries to go towards one of the other rooms but the orcs again tell her to get back downstairs. She tries to stop and hang out in the stairwell, but another servant comes by after a while and chases her off (though the assassin briefly considers murdering the man instead). She decides to spend the rest of the time waiting in a corner of the dining room.

When Tickles arrives a short time later, he heads straight to the bar. He nurses a drink for a while (electing to go for a regular ale and not the special "hot springs ale" with touch of cinnamon), waiting for someone to contact him. He asks the bartender about Morlock, who confirms the man has the entire upstairs booked.

Tickles tries to get a better idea of who Morlock is. The bartender says Morlock is involved in all kinds of businesses, but elects not to get too specific. Tickles quickly catches on that Morlock is involved in the underworld. He gets a little more information – hearing how Morlock moves around inns in town when he visits, has a small retinue of "assistants" with him, etc.

The thief waits around another 15 minutes, but no one ever approaches him. He asks the bartender if Morlock is in. The bartender says he should be. Tickles tries to get the bartender to send a message up to Morlock, but the bartender explains he is the type of man who sends messages, not one who is sent to.

Tickles continues to wait but still no one comes. He starts to get annoyed. He heads over to the staircase and encounters the orcs.

Greeting the orcs, Tickles asks if their boss is in. One of the orcs asks what's it to him. Tickles says he was supposed to meet Morlock but no one has shown up so he wants to know if he's wasting him time. The orc tells him no one needs to go upstairs.

Taking a different tactic, Tickles asks the orc if he knows anyone in the clown guild or if Morlock has any business with them. The orc wants to know why Tickles is asking about Morlock's business dealings. Tickles says he thought that why he was asked there.

The orc tells Tickles he is asking too many questions. Tickles starts to get surly, saying he's trying to figure out why he was asked there and Morlock hasn't bothered to come talk to him. The orc asks if Tickles is insulting Morlock. Tickles, surlier by the minute, insists he's never even met the man and just wants to know what is going on.

Threatening Tickles, the orc tells him he's a little too curious and reminds him that curiosity killed the cat. Tickles says he hates cats (thinking of Shoes as he says it).

Greatly annoyed at the waste of his time, Tickles heads outside the inn to see if anyone approaches him there. As he's waiting around, he notices the light up on the second floor.

Deciding to try a new tactic, he takes out his grappling hook and tosses it up, catching the window. He climbs up the rope to listen in, but isn't very quiet and while he's waiting the window opens and a voice invites him to come on in.

As he climbs inside, Tickles sees the inhabitant of the room is a finely-dressed, hunchbacked dwarf. The dwarf invites him to come in and sit down, offering him wine and food.

Tickles asks the dwarf if he is Mr. Morlock, and he confirms he is. Tickles apologizes for missing the previously-scheduled meeting. Morlock says he was a little upset about that, but he supposed he didn't give him much notice so is prepared to let the matter drop.

Morlock is happy to see that Tickles was able to get into the room without resorting to violence against his orc bodyguards. He explains he always sees that as a valuable test when evaluating potential contractors.

Tickles asks Morlock what he does. He says he does a little of this and that. Tickles points out that's quite vague.

Morlock calls himself a collector of rare things. Tickles asks what sort of things. Morlock says he collects antiques, objets d'art, and specialty items.

The dwarf then says he first heard about Tickles because of the incident at Rodemus. He asks him if he and his companions found the lost treasure of the Rodem family. Tickles admits they did not. Morlock says it is a pity, as the family was rumored to have large amounts of wealth and some magical items in their treasury.

Tickles asks Morlock if he believes it was more than just a rumor. The dwarf says he does, noting many of the old ruins in the region are filled with lost treasures that enterprising men such as Tickles can recover. He says if the Rodem treasure does exist, Tickles may want to get to it quickly as who knows what other treasure hunters may come along to find it now that the goblins have been vanquished.

Morlock comments on magical items being quite valuable to the right people. Tickles asks if he is one of the right people, but the dwarf refers to himself as merely a middle man who helps facilitate transactions.

Tickles wonders if Morlock wants to hire him to recover the treasure, but the hunchbacked man says he didn't actually invite him there to talk about that. Instead, he tells Tickles he invited him there because he was asking around about the Cult of Cegaroch.

 Morlock goes on to tell Tickles what he knows about the cult. He begins talking about the elves, giving much the same information Tickles has already heard about. When the subject of the Black Vault comes up, Tickles asks Morlock if he knows about an amulet in it (referring to the Amulet of Tr'di), but the dwarf says only that there are many magical items in the vault and he'd love to get his hands on some of them.

Tickles asks if Morlock knows a way to get into the vault. The dwarf says he does not, but that he does have a plan. He then asks the thief if he's heard of an ancient manuscript by Ehran the scribe called "Mankind Revealed". The coyle starts to get nervous as he's sure this will lead to an even more complex set of things for him to try and remember.

Morlock continues on, explaining Ehran was an elf who wrote about the emergence of humans back during the dawn of the Age of Light. The manuscript is said to be very rare and contains heretical passages connected to the Old Ones – the kind of writings that the Cult of Cegaroch tend to impound and put into the Black Vault for safe-keeping.

Tickles asks Morlock how big the cult is. The dwarf says he can't say for sure, but it likely has hundreds of members across the land and into other planes. Tickles asks if they are all clowns. Morlock confirms they are, as it is part of their worship of Cegaroch, the Laughing God.

Talking about the cult further, Morlock explains the cult locks away any writings about the Old Ones as dangerous, subversive material. Tickles asks why they have such a hatred of the Old Ones and Morlock explains he can't be sure but believes it has something to do with Cegaroch witnessing the destruction of most of the original elven gods at the hands of the Old Ones back in the Age of Darkness.

Tickles says this is a lot to take in. He asks Morlock if he has had any contact with the elves. The dwarf says he has not, but the idea is to get ahold of the manuscript and put the word out to lure the elves into coming after it.

After Tickles asks if the location of the document is known, Morlock says it just so happens he recently discovered just that fact. A fragment of the manuscript, according to his sources, is owned by a local nobleman named Lord Sylvan.

Tickles asks where he can find Sylvan. Morlock explains Sylvan has a large compound just outside of town. Tickles begins to see the pattern of events – Morlock wants him to steal the manuscript from Sylvan so he can put the word out to lure the clowns so they can get into the Black Vault. The thief knows there is an entire other series of events after that, but the plans of late have become so complicated he's started to lose track of what the end goal of his activities was in the first place.

Continuing on, Morlock explains Sylvan's compound is heavily guarded by patrols of men and dogs. Tickles asks about the layout and Morlock draws him a large map of the building, saying it is two stories high with a dungeon. Tickles asks if the man is kind or cruel. Morlock says that rumors have the man put his prisoners in the basement and lets his dogs rip them apart, so he supposes he is cruel.

Morlock's plan is to have Tickles slip in and steal the manuscript fragment. He claims to have a special magical item that he can slip in to the manuscript that will allow them to transport to it once it is inside the vault. Then, the two of them can grab whatever they can quickly and escape, splitting their plunder fifty-fifty.

Tickles says since the vault is in the pocket dimension, he wonders how they will get out. Morlock says that will be the real trick, but is confident they'll be able to find a way (though notes they'll likely need to get out quickly as the vault will likely be guarded by dozens of warriors). Tickles feels the escape plan is a little dicey. Morlock says he's free to come up with his own plan, but the thief says they can figure that out later.

Thinking of the Amulet of Tr'di, Tickles mentions there is a particular magic item – an amulet – he is looking to acquire from the Black Vault. Morlock offers Tickles can have that and he can take everything else. Tickles says he wants to make sure he gets the amulet but may want some of the other items as well. Morlock says they can negotiate once they have the objects (which Tickles isn't sure is a good idea).

The thief asks about the timeframe, as he needs some time to rest up first. Morlock says it just needs to be done within the next week to guarantee the item is still there.

As an afterthought, Morlock gives some additional warnings about the compound. He explains the compound is heavily wooded by illuminated by a large globe of magical daylight so it is difficult to sneak into. The dwarf also notes it is surrounded by a large wall that is enchanted by electrifying wards. Tickles begins to understand why Morlock needs his help.

*** Session 8 - Scene 7 (of 9) ***

When Tickles finally gets back to their room at the inn, he wakes the others and tells them they aren't going to believe it, but they have yet another quest to perform. He explains how they need to steal a document from a well-guarded compound and suggests they get started thinking up one of their overly-elaborate schemes for the mission.

Deadly Snow wonders about using some of the trees with a rope attached to a grappling hook and tightrope walking over the wall. She isn't so sure, however, she is good enough at it to guarantee she won't fall onto the electrified wall.

Before they get too far into the discussion, everyone agrees to go back to sleep first and get the clown bounty in the morning then deal with the document theft mission later.

Early the next morning, Mulroney and Nardig head out of town to meet Corporal Punishment. Tickles says he will spend the day at the hot springs, which annoys Mulroney as he wanted the coyle around as backup.

When Corporal Punishment shows up, he asks to see the heads. Mulroney explains they left them in a secure location in town. The corporal is confused. He asks why he didn't just have them meet there. Mulroney says he wanted to be sure the clown didn't bring any assistance. The corporal doesn't really understand, as they hired Mulroney to kill the clowns so he's not sure what the man is worried about.

The three of them head back into town and find the room at the inn abandoned, which further annoys Mulroney as he thought at least Deadly Snow would have stayed behind to guard the heads.

Ignoring the aggravating circumstances for the moment, Mulroney tells Corporal Punishment the heads are in the chest. The clown tells him to open it. When Mulroney does, he sees there are only three large rocks inside the chest. Corporal Punishment asks what he is trying to pull here and says no one messes with the clown guild. Realizing his partners have screwed him over, Mulroney tells Corporal Punishment he has a feeling the heads are on their way to the clown guild as they speak.

Meanwhile, at the clown guild, Deadly Snow knocks at the door. She is greeted by a clown with tall hair named Bello. She opens the sack she is carrying and shows him the heads.

Bello takes Deadly Snow back to see Otto. The guildmaster is confused and asks who she is. The young assassin opens the sack and dumps the clown heads out at his feet.

Otto says that is very efficient but asks who she is. Deadly Snow gives her name. Otto asks if she works with Mulroney, as he was the one they hired to find the clowns. The assassin says she does work with the man from time to time.

The guildmaster is still confused. He asks if Mulroney sent her there, saying he sent Corporal Punishment to meet Mulroney outside of town. Deadly Snow says Mulroney sent her to get the payment.

Otto hands the note for 2,000 gold to Deadly Snow. She notes the amount and he explains about the bonus he promised Mulroney. She takes the money and leaves, feeling that the unexpected bonus amount justified her distrust of her partner.

*** Session 8 - Scene 8 (of 9) ***

Deadly Snow takes the money to the moneylender. Mordecai greets her with a hearty, "Shalom!" She says she wants to make a deposit and hands him the slip.

As he is making some notes in his books, Mordecai claims he has the best accounts in town. He does warn her he is closed for Shabbos, his holy day of rest for his god Halaktan. He explains he's had some problems with angry customers in the past who couldn't get their money out because he was closed. Deadly Snow says she doesn't have a problem with that.

Deadly Snow has Mordecai deposit the money in two different accounts – 1,400 in a joint account for her and Tickles, and 600 in an account in Nardig's name. Mordecai explains there will be some fees because of account splitting in the amount of 5%, so he gives her a note for 1,300 for her account and 600 for Nardig's.

Back at the inn, Tickles and Deadly Snow eventually show up. Mulroney has been sitting around, livid, ever since Corporal Punishment left in a huff for wasting his time.

Deadly Snow notices Mulroney is very tense, she tells him he should have enjoyed the hot springs. Mulroney is too angry to speak.

The girl then hands Nardig a note about his account at Mordecai's. The hobgoblin is happily surprised.

While Mulroney considers what to do with his misbehaving companions, Deadly Snow and Tickles talk about throwing the rocks out and burn the chest in the fireplace in the room to ensure there is no evidence of the severed heads leading back to them. They note Mulroney is unusually quiet but he still says nothing.

As they work, Mulroney watches and plots. He knows the two were getting back at him and need to be brought into line. At the same time, he knows he doesn't want to escalate the group undermining each other as he still has a use for them for now. But he thinks ahead of the day when he does not.

Deadly Snow and Tickles start plotting how they can get the manuscript. They try asking Mulroney for ideas, but the man says simply he has none. Tickles notes that is unusual, and starts to wonder if perhaps they went too far.

Nardig doesn't have many ideas either. He wonders if they could wait until Sylvan has a ball or something at his palace and sneak in. Deadly Snow isn't so sure he's the kind of man who throws parties.

Deadly Snow agrees they need a way to trick Sylvan into letting them into the compound. Tickles offers perhaps a counterfeiter could produce something the man would want to buy. Deadly Snow laments the astrologer's chest could have been perfect to transport such an item in.

Tickles says they should ask around about the man to see what he knows. Nardig offers to set up surveillance on the compound to get a feel of the comings and goings.

Out on the streets, Tickles starts asking around about Sylvan. He discovers the man and his family are a bit reclusive – he doesn't usually leave his compound personally and rarely has any visitors. The one exception to that involves Sylvan's predilection for young girls; apparently, he often has poor girls from the streets over for special visits.

Deadly Snow sees the potential to use herself as bait, though her surrogate father doesn't like the idea. She says she can take care of herself, which Tickles agrees is true.

When Nardig comes back, he says he was not able to get very close so he didn't get a good feel on the guard patrol patterns. He did notice there aren't many comings or goings, and from what he could tell by asking around it seems the servants only leave once a week or so.

The plan begins to form – Deadly Snow will trick Sylvan's men into bringing her into the compound as a street girl. Once inside, she'll either sneak off to open the gate or use force to get Sylvan or his men to open it.

Deadly Snow hides her daggers on her person. They also make sure to have Tickles use his teleport object power to send one of the elven whip weapons past the wall into the bushes where she can retrieve it.

*** Session 8 - Scene 9 (of 9) ***

Later that day, all four of them head out to the compound to put the plan into motion. When Deadly Snow goes up to the gate to beg disguised as an orphan girl, the guards quickly bring her inside and Tickles teleports the weapon in when no one is looking. Nardig and Mulroney stay behind cover waiting for the gate to open.

The guards take Deadly Snow inside the main hall and head over to the stairs. They bring her upstairs, where she passes through a landing area with a large statue and is put into one of the rooms that appears to be Lord Sylvan's study which contains a strongbox she believes could hold the manuscript. Unfortunately, she is guarded over by a knight while waiting for the master of the house to appear.

Deadly Snow starts coughing and asks for water. The knight goes over to the door and calls out to a servant for a glass of water.

While his back is turned, the girl leaps into action and takes out her daggers. She attempts to rush over and stab him in the neck quickly, but it is blocked by her armor.

The knight draws his large, two-handed sword. Deadly Snow quickly strikes him with a telekinetic kick but it doesn't slow him down much. His sword cuts into her.

The assassin performs a double strike with her knives, drawing some blood of her own. He tries to strike back, but she deflects the blow.

She continues her attack. The knight blocks one dagger but is hit by the other. He strikes back but she parries him again. Following up with a series of dagger strikes, she slashes into his midsection and he falls over into a pool of blood.

Acting quickly, she shoves the body up against the door and makes her way over to the lock box. Using her lock picks, she opens the lock and grabs the ancient scroll wrapped up inside. She tries to read it but it is in elven. She figures it must be the document they were looking for and takes it.

Just then, the servant shows up at the door. Deadly Snow heads over to the window and leaves, scaling quickly down the wall.

Unfortunately, there is a guard patrol nearby – two men and a dog. She decides to distract the dog by throwing the elf penis near him. Despite all odds, the trick works and the dog goes for it.

The two guards come after her, attacking with their clubs. She manages to fend off their attacks and makes a run for it.

One of the guards is too slow to keep up with her but the other stays on her tail. She heads over to find where Tickles put the whip and he swings at her. She turns and blocks the attack.

Swinging the whip around, she attacks with the strange elven weapon but finds as she does so that it shocks her with an electric blast surging through her hand. She realizes the weapon must be attuned to the elves and drops it.

Drawing her daggers, Deadly Snow gets a couple of quick cuts into the guard. He responds with a solid strike of his club into her head. Across the yard, she can see the other guard coming with another pair of guards carrying spears.

The assassin makes short work of the guard and heads over to the gate before the others can get to her. Through the open window in the gate, she pushes through the document so the others can get it, calling out to Tickles. She then runs back in the other direction, further into the compound grounds with two of the guards chasing her while a third goes to open the gate to get the manuscript. As he opens the gate, the guard finds Nardig, Mulroney, and Tickles waiting for him...

*** Session 8 - Session Notes ***

So, if you read between the lines of the session this week you'll notice the Mulroney player (not just character) was pretty upset at the other PCs for ripping him off. He felt it was out of character, required metagaming (since their characters didn't know he planned to steal from them), and was excessive punishment. The other guys just thought it would be funny. I'm somewhere in the middle - the trick with any PvP stuff is a little bit of tension is realistic and good but too much and it turns into a wacky spy vs. spy scenario that ultimately leads to dysfunction. So, hopefully the session write-up will be a clear enough reminder but if not I'll intervene next time.

On a side note, this session went about an hour longer than usual for us - not intentionally, but because the clock was set wrong and we thought it was an hour earlier than it was so we kept going (never mind we all have watches, phones, and other devices with the time on them - we still looked at the clock). We typically game from 7-10, but this time went 7-11. By the time the Mulroney player pointed it out, we were all half-asleep at the table.

Outside of those things, the session progressed the plot along in dealing with the clowns and trying to get the group back on track towards the vault. It's kind of interesting that with American Horror Story, IT, and various other clown-related things in the cultural zeitgeist at the moment that clowns just happened to figure into my plot; that was completely unexpected when I first wrote down some of my ideas.

Other notes about the session:
* The Mulroney player clearly had no idea what to do to investigate the elves, so I threw him a bone by having the Delaque guard more talkative than I intended them to be. It allowed for some exposition, but nothing related to the main plot (which is something the PCs rarely pick up on; they tend to think any exposition is directly related to the last plot I mentioned no matter how many times that never turns out to be the case).

* I always planned for Charno to attack Mulroney. In fact, him following them around was one of the perception-type checks they missed a few times. Charno is envisioned as somewhere between a complete psycho and Zsasz from the Batman comics (though he was inspired by the killer from the X-Files episode, the characterization I use isn't anything like that - he's far more crazy supervillain).

* Charno obviously escaped alive so I can bring him back later horror-movie style. The Mulroney player thought I kind of railroaded that one, but I would have let him kill him if he wasn't tossing around spells in the middle of town (which would obviously attract attention).

* Zarzote is named after Sarasote, FL - hence it also has famous hot springs, the hotel Lido, a clown named Bello (who's act really includes a wheel of death), etc.

* Corporal Punishment is named after the member of Krusty the Clown's show on The Simpsons.

* The entire Morlock plot is still being adapted from the first mission of the Harlequin module for Shadowrun 1st edition.

* One of the PCs suggested instead of the hot springs ale it should have been pumpkin spice ale. I missed a good joke there.

* At this point, the chain of plots is too much for the PCs to follow, which again was intentional. I'll let it relax a bit and have a few things finish up before introducing too new of things (though I have plenty more in mind)

* What Tickles actually said when he got back to the inn was they should start coming up with their Mission Impossible type schemes

* Mordecai is taken straight from my D&D Bronze Age campaign, as is his reference about being closed for Shabbos. To those who didn't read that one - he's intended to mock the racist stereotype, not promote it, by constantly charging the PCs various fees he invents.

* I didn't originally plan for the dark angle I took with Sylvan, but since the PCs didn't seem to want to plan a sneak-in type of heist I wanted to give them another option.

*** Session 09 - Cast of Characters ***

Yukiko Amagi (aka The Deadly Snow): A ten-year-old aberrant human girl; a major psychic trained as a secret assassin. She considers Tickles to be her father after he raised her as an orphan.

The Great Mulroney: A miscreant changeling witch who believes he is human and masquerades as a prestidigitator. He sold his soul to the devil prince Glebecar and has a devil familiar named Shoes.

Tickles: An anarchist coyle thief and minor psychic. He raised Yukiko from a little orphan girl into the assassin she is today so she could earn them money as a hardened killer.

Nardig: A miscreant hobgoblin mercenary exiled from his family for his evil deeds. He can control his tendencies for short periods of time to work with small groups, but will steal from them and turn on them with the slightest provocation.

*** Session 09 - Scene 1 (of 5) ***

Tickles strikes into the guard in front of him with his hercules club, but the guard moves quick enough to parry the attack. Shoes has better luck with a fear spell, causing the guard at the gate and his companion starting to run after Deadly Snow to become overwhelmed with terror.

As the two guards run back towards the main compound, the Great Mulroney blasts the other guard running after the assassin in the back with an energy bolt. He gets a glancing hit, but not enough to stop the man. Deadly Snow herself turns around and throws a couple of daggers at him, also getting a couple of slight hits.

Nardig holds back to protect the others, watching out for any new guards to show up. Tickles does the same, hoping Deadly Snow will quickly finish off the remaining guard so they can make their escape.

Not to disappoint her father, Deadly Snow blocks the guard from attacking her with his club, then slashes his throat with a couple of strikes with her daggers. He falls over dead.

Unfortunately, the commotion in the yard has caught the attention of another squad of guards. Two more guards with spears and a dog come running towards the group. Deadly Snow starts running back towards the group.

Everyone heads out the gate to get away from the compound and the guards. The patrol runs after them. They easily outrun one of the guards, but the other guard manages to keep up and the dog is quite a bit faster than most of them.

The dog bites Mulroney in the ass as it catches up to him. The other guard catches up to Nardig, hitting his armor with his spear.

Nardig turns and cuts into the guard with his sword. He attacks back, but the hobgoblin parries the attack. Unfortunately, blocking the blow moves Nardig out of position for a good counter-attack and his next swing misses.

Tickles assists by swinging his grappling hook, entangling the guard. Nardig then cuts his throat with his sword.

Meanwhile, Mulroney uses a spell to levitate the dog into the air. Deadly Snow finishes the dog off with her daggers.

By the time the other guard starts to reach them, Mulroney casts a cloud of smoke. The group uses the opportunity to escape and get back to Zarzote.

*** Session 09 - Scene 2 (of 5) ***

When they get back into town, before they go to see Morlock, Deadly Snow suggests they should find a way to authenticate the document first since she just grabbed the first thing in the lock box. Tickles agrees it would be a good idea, and doesn't look forward to the possibility they may have to go back in.

Mulroney explains he has a way they can read the language. Casting the spell of the Eyes of Thoth on Deadly Snow, she finds she can suddenly read the ancient elven document.

Deadly Snow immediately identifies the document is indeed titled, "Mankind Revealed" by Ehran the scribe. Skimming through it, she notes it is poorly-written philosophical drivel; but all that is important is that it is the document they were looking for.

Tickles then leads the others to go talk to Morlock at the Laubenstein Inn. Deadly Snow isn't so sure they should all go, but Tickles wants backup in case Morlock tries to pull anything.

When they arrive, the orc guards let Tickles and the others past this time so they can head upstairs to the suite where Morlock is staying. When they are shown inside, Morlock greets all of them.

The misshapen dwarf doesn't seem too surprised or concerned that Tickles has brought friends, but does ask Tickles about them. The thief explains they assisted him with the heist of the document.

Morlock is surprised Tickles was able to get the document so quickly. He asks to see it, and Tickles shows it to him but makes sure to keep it at a distance.

The dwarf then says they need to authenticate the document. Tickles says they won't need someone else to authenticate the document as the dwarf will be able to read it himself.

Morlock is confused, saying he can't read ancient elven. As he does so, Shoes brushes up against him and casts the spell allowing him to read the document. He is amazed at his sudden new ability.

He congratulates Tickles on a job well done and asks him to hand the document over. Tickles tells him he wants some more information first on what the dwarf had in mind for how the rest of this operation will work, as his previous explanation was a little fuzzy.

Morlock tells Tickles not to worry about it. He says what will happen next is that he'll start putting the word out around the underworld about the document being available. He then expects the cult to come steal it, at which time he'll use his magic item to teleport them into the Black Vault.

Tickles wants to see the magic item. Morlock shows him a simple amulet made of turquoise. The coyle thief is suspicious of the amulet and wants to know if it could be the Amulet of Tr'di. Morlock says it is not.

Deadly Snow doesn't understand how the amulet will help them get to the stolen document. Morlock explains the amulet is linked back to a specific ward carving that he will place inside the document, acting as a homing beacon of sorts.

Mulroney tries to determine what the magic amulet is by looking at it but is unable to identify it. Morlock refers to it as Tangia's Amulet of Bilocation.

Tickles is still curious about how they will get back out once they are inside the Black Vault. Morlock says the amulet won't help them there, as using the ward will use up the magic in it. However, he isn't concerned because he "has it on good authority" there is some sort of portal inside the Black Vault that leads out of it and he's sure they'll be able to use that.

Morlock's confidence in the plan is viewed suspiciously by Tickles, who thinks the dwarf may have become a bit irrational in his greed to steal the elves' magic items.

Mulroney notices Morlock refers to "we" when talking about the plan, and asks the dwarf if he intends to come along with them into the Black Vault. He says he will go into the vault with Tickles to procure items. Mulroney asks about the rest of them, but Morlock suggests they would not be allowed to come with.

Tickles argues it might be handy to have extra muscle along to protect them from the guardians of the vault. Tickles promises the split of the treasure will remain the same as they discussed.

Mulroney asks who decides which 50% of the treasure goes to who. Morlock says not to worry about it and they can come to terms once they are back.

Morlock agrees to let them come along but has Tickles introduce them first. They exchange introductions over a round of drinks, with Tickles letting them all give their own names (in case they want to use pseudonyms, but they do not).

The dwarf recognizes all but Nardig as the heroes from the incident at Rodemus. He says he heard there was another adventurer who was involved in that named Skulric Fortman. The others pretend they've never heard of the name. Morlock says perhaps he misremembered or misheard the details about Nardig.

After confirming everyone will go along on the mission into the Black Vault, Morlock asks Tickles to hand over the document so he can start the process. He tells Tickles it won't take too long.

Tickles wants everyone to stay together until it is stolen. Morlock doesn't want the elves coming to the hotel, so he decides the best plan is to store it with a local banker that the elves can steal from. Tickles agrees to go store the document with a banker and let Morlock know.

*** Session 09 - Scene 3 (of 5) ***

Tickles doesn't want to store the document with the same banker they have their personal funds entrusted to (Mordecai), so he looks for another local banker to store it with. Deciding to pass on "Schlomo's Discount Bank", he entrusts the document with one of the larger and more reputable bankers, the Lehman Brothers.

The thief heads over to the large merchant shop where the brothers do business. He makes the acquaintance of one of the brothers, Henry. Henry assures him they have the safest lockboxes in all of Zarzote, even showing Tickles around so he is satisfied the lox box area is secured.

Tickles deposits the document for a fee of 100 gold up front and an agreement to pay a monthly fee of 50 gold. In exchange, Henry gives him a key. As Tickles leaves, he mumbles under his breath how happy he is that these highway robbers will be the ones getting robbed.

When he returns to Morlock's room, he informs the dwarf about the deposit. Morlock is pleased and begins putting the word out, though notes he's head the Lehman Brothers have been busy buying property all over town.

Tickles says he'll sleep on the floor in Morlock's room until the theft goes off. Morlock doesn't want him in his suite, so he arranges for everyone to have one of the other rooms down the hall.

While they wait, Deadly Snow replenishes her daggers and heads over to Althea for some healing. On the way, she stops by Mordecai's shop to withdraw some of the money.

The banker greets her, surprised she is back so soon. When she says she needs to make a withdrawal, he explains there will be an early withdrawal penalty.

Deadly Snow isn't surprised but is annoyed. She decides to go ahead and take all the money out. Mordecai starts explaining all the fees – early withdrawal, withdrawing within a day of Shabbas, gold surcharge, estate taxes, etc. In the end, the fees add up to 300 gold, leaving the assassin with 1,000 gold left.

Taking the money and grumbling about the fees on her way out, Deadly Snow replaces her daggers at the weaponsmith's then finds the shrine to Jar'ri.

Althea greets Deadly Snow when she arrives, telling her to ramble on baby and settle down easy. She tells the girl she'll heal her just like the mojo hand.

When she gets back, Nardig considers withdrawing his money as well but when Deadly Snow warns him about Mordecai's penalties he decides against it.

Deadly Snow also mentions something about needing armor repairs. Nardig offers he can make some of the repairs for her, and spends a day doing so.

*** Session 09 - Scene 4 (of 5) ***

A day or so later, word spreads around town about a daring robbery of the Lehman Brothers. Tickles asks around town about it, and discovers one of the workers named Richard was killed during the raid. He also confirms the attack was made by "crazy-looking elves" who took something from one of the lock boxes.

Tickles heads down to see the Lehman Brothers and demands to speak to someone in charge. Emmanuel Lehman comes out to talk to him.

Acting indignant, Tickles says he wants to open his lock box. Emmanuel tells him there has been a problem. Tickles, clearly annoyed, asks what the problem was.

Emmanuel explains about the attack and how his item was stolen from the lock box. Tickles acts as if he doesn't believe him and demands the brothers pay him the value of his stolen item.

As Emmanuel explains to Tickles that the agreement he signed explains they aren't liable for theft, the coyle grabs him by the throat and slams him head into the counter. He falls unconscious.

Henry rushes out and asks Tickles what he's done. Tickles demands he be compensated for his loss. Henry threatens him that he'll hear from Magistrate Peck for this.

Tickles doesn't back down, and eventually intimidates Henry into refunding his 100 gold (in cash) and gives him a bank note for 800 gold (the amount Tickles claimed the item was worth) redeemable at Mordecai's. Tickles takes the cash and note, punching the banker in the face before he leaves and slams the door on the way out.

Getting back to the Laubenstein Inn, Tickles informs the others the item has been stolen. When they head into his suite, they find Morlock is already aware of the theft.

The dwarf asks them if they are ready for the trip. They agree they are as ready as ever. He has them hold hands as he prepares to go through the instructions.

Tickles is alarmed that Morlock doesn't seem 100% sure of what he's doing. The dwarf explains he's never actually done this before, but has the instructions by way of a friend of a friend of an associate of his and isn't concerned. Everyone else is, but goes along with it anyway.

*** Session 09 - Scene 5 (of 5) ***

When they materialize in the pocket dimension of the Black Vault, the group find themselves inside what appears to be a tall tower looking like some kind of library illuminated by magical torches. It is open all the way to the top, with various mezzanine levels around the outer ring of the tower, connected by a winding staircase heading up the wall.

Aside from the staircases, the outer walls of each level are filled with shelves of documents and objects behind locked gates. In the walking areas of the levels are several tables, several of which appear to contain items.

The tower has dozens of harlequins inside, and everyone knows they'll have to move quickly. Morlock gives the command for everyone to move out and grab what they can.

Deadly Snow is overcome with nausea from the trip while everyone else is unaffected. She begins vomiting as the others move into action.

The harlequins move in first, with one of them attacking Morlock. The dwarf manages to move out of the way of his whip-like weapon.

With the other elves still a fair distance away, Tickles looks around at the tables. The one nearest to him has some sort of suit of plate armor on it. He looks around for one with an amulet, but doesn't see one. He does catch sight of a helmet and a set of arrows.

Tickles decides to help out Morlock with his grappling hook. He wraps it around the elf.

Mulroney looks around for anything to steal while Shoes casts a cloud of smoke to obscure some of them. The witch himself runs over towards the table with the helmet. He isn't sure what it is, but puts it one anyway.

Nardig attacks the elf Tickles has grappled, but slips on the slick floor and misses. Morlock takes out a dagger and sticks the elf.

The harlequin slips the grappling hook, using his whip weapon to cut the rope. Tickles' grappling hook falls to the ground. Feeling that discretion is the better part of valor, Tickles runs for the stairs to go look for the amulet.

Over in the other part of the main floor, Mulroney spots a table a further distance away that has some sort of magical torch on it. He moves over to grab it.

The harlequin starts after Tickles but Nardig blocks his way. He slashes out with his sword, but the elf parries the blow with his whip. However, Morlock uses the opportunity to sneak in and get another attack with his dagger. The elf counterattacks with his whip, slashing the dwarf across his body.

Nardig continues to press the attack on the elf, but the warrior is too fast for him. The harlequin can't handle both attackers at once, however, and Morlock gets in another stab. The elf responds with another fierce blow on the dwarf with his whip, wounding the man badly.

Deadly Snow, recovering from her illness, decides to start scaling the wall up to the next level. Down below, Morlock blocks another attack from the elf.

When Tickles gets to the top of the stairs, he spots a table nearby with some sort of talisman or amulet on it. Encouraged it could be the one he is looking for, he makes his way towards it while being pursued from behind by other harlequin warriors.

Downstairs, Nardig continues to battle with the harlequin. He manages to strike it with his sword, wounding the elf. Morlock follows up with a dagger strike of his own.

Upstairs, Deadly Snow climbs her way onto the mezzanine. She spots a table nearby with what appears to be a pair of wings on it.

Mulroney sees the clowns starting to move in closer. He has Shoes get ready to cast a fear spell while he starts heading up the stairs to the next level.

Meanwhile, Tickles grabs the amulet from the table near him. As Tickles grabs the amulet, two of the harlequins move in and attack. He manages to block one of them but is hit by the other attack.

Down below, Nardig strikes into the harlequin warrior again. Morlock tries to finish the elf off, but misses badly. The hobgoblin attempts to press the attack, but the warrior beats him back.

Up above, Deadly Snow straps on the wings and jumps off the mezzanine. Unfortunately, she can detect she doesn't quite have the magical ability to activate the wings and begins to fall. Using her psionic power, she harmlessly floats towards the floor on the main level.

Meanwhile, the harlequins up above slash into Tickles' armor with their whips. More begin to approach him. He tries to escape by climbing up the shelves as Deadly Snow did. The clowns come after him, whipping at him.

Mulroney calls out to Morlock to ask how they get out of there. Morlock points to a magic circle near the center of the ground floor; he says they should be able to use it to escape.

Deadly Snow rushes over and grabs Shoes. As he picks the cat up, Shoes stretches out a paw and fires a fire bolt into the shelves of books to create a distraction.

Nardig runs the harlequin through with his sword. Upstairs, Tickles is under attack from above and below, as one of the harlequins on the upper level whips into him.

Tickles takes the opportunity to hurl himself off the book shelf and dives towards the portal. He disappears in mid-air as he reaches it.

On the stairs, Mulroney sees what happens with Tickles. He starts running back down towards the portal. Deadly Snow decides to help by hurling the witch's cat into the portal.

Before heading out, Nardig decides to go for the set of (presumably) magic arrows and heads over to that table.

Meanwhile, Morlock grabs the nearby set of plate armor. Mulroney runs over to the portal, but stops just short of entering it to block the dwarf. Morlock tries to tackle the witch into the portal, but Mulroney steps aside and he falls to the ground, dropping the magic armor.

Deadly Snow goes up to Morlock with her battle axe ready. She chops down into him, cutting off his leg. Some distance away, Nardig grabs the arrows off the table and starts running back towards the others.

Since Morlock can't make it back to the portal before the elves get him, Deadly Snow grabs the armor and heads towards the portal. She knocks Mulroney down and drops the armor herself.

Deadly Snow picks herself up off the ground. She sees nearly a dozen harlequins surrounding herself and Mulroney, closing in fast. Nardig, still a distance away, appears to be cut off from them.

The young assassin grabs the armor from the ground. Mulroney grabs her and pulls the two of them into the portal.

Nardig, left alone, tries to figure out how he'll manage to get to the portal. Rushing through, he slams into one of the warriors but can't push him aside.

The harlequins begin attacking the hobgoblin. He is badly injured by their whips. Using the last of his energy, he slams one aside and makes it into the portal...