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-----Their guide had taken them across a flat grassy field pockmarked with the occasional bush or tree. To the east, they see an old crumbling Gorian tower; its top half collapsed and its entrance boarded up. Vines now cover the lower half of the structure.
-----A few feet to their right is an old circular well. Its stone shape rises three feet high. The Fly untangles himself from Gimplefwick’s rope and hops over to it. Peering over the edge, the inside of the well is very dark in the deepening twilight.
-----"Remember," the sharp whispering begins, "move to yore right at the tenth rung." Before anyone can say a word, he quickly adds, "Speakin’s done . . . time ta run!" With that, he jumps on top of the well stones and eases himself down into the darkness.
-----Kazel peeks down the well, then shrugs and hops in after the Fly. "No wonder she changed outta her dress..." she mutters as she disappears into the dark.
-----Gimplefwick carefully winds up his rope and places it back in his pack, then shrugs his shoulders. "Last one in be a harpy's egg." Gimplefwick then carefully lowers himself into the well, cautiously feeling his way for the tenth rung and listening to hear any warning cries from Kazel.
-----Seth follows them in. Surprisingly, the rungs are easy to find mounted on the inside of the well. The descent is a bit unnerving with the darkness they lower themselves into.
-----Just as Kazel counts herself down on the tenth rung, a nearly blinding light erupts to her right. Looking over she sees, an opening in the wall of the well. Just inside the "doorway", the Fly sits there holding a small round disk that emits a great deal of light.
-----"Oops, sorry," He says, realizing the effect of the brightness on the thieves. He turns it so it shines in his direction. Kazel can see an underground tunnel leading off behind the elf. "Be steppin’ over this a way. You don’t wanna go down the ladder any farther. At the bottom, it leads to no where."
-----The three young thieves make it over to the opening and when they all stand in the tunnel, the Fly instructs Seth to close the door. Seth pushes the stone door behind them "sealing" the wall inside the well.
-----The strange elf then turns and leads the trio down a long tunnel corridor, the light shining off into the darkness ahead. "A littl’ nifty device," he quips at one point, nodding down at the disk he holds, "stole it right outta the Sunworshippers’ temple, we did!"
-----Soon they come to a dead end in the rock wall. The Fly applies pressure to the wall and it swings out to the left. He then pockets the shiny disk and takes them into another tunnel running at an angle with the one they just left. They turn to the right and up ahead is the pale light of an oil lamp.
-----As they walk about twenty feet, the tunnel opens into a room measuring twenty by fifteen feet. There are tunnel exits in each of the four walls. In the middle of the room is a small round table. Four dark forms sit around the table slightly illuminated by oil lamps on the table and some attached to support beams.
-----The Fly suddenly announces, "Here they are!" and the people around the table turn toward them. Two of the people, the thieves recognize as Dora May and the dwarf, Picks. Of the other two, one is a short, plain looking woman with short hair and wearing spectacles. The other one is a young man with his hair in a page-boy style. Large green eyes stare out of a smiling face.
-----Footsteps are heard coming from one of the other tunnels. Out of the darkness comes a tall and imposing looking man. As the light finally catches his facial features, the trio can see he has short dark hair, dark eyes and a dark mustache that goes down to his chin.
-----The Fly crawls up on a shelf to one side of the room and sits there cross-legged. For a moment, all is silent in the room, then the tall dark man speaks in a low, intimidating tone. "Who are you? Tell us of yourselves." He looks at them sternly and there for a second it seems as if the shadows have hidden his eyes.
-----Gimplefwick peers at the tall, dark man who questioned them, "If'n ye don't know of us, ye probably should not have asked us here. Ah well, my name be Gimplefwick Wispybeard. The Dread Pirate Gimplefwick Wispybeard. Ye may have heard of me adventures at sea and piratical doings. I've sailed from one end of the earth to the other and all the oceans in between. I've wrestled with the wind and spit out lightning. I've raided villages and cities and plundered lands ye can't even imagine. I've drunk rum with the greatest pirates who've ever lived. I've fought sea battles against all manner of foe, man and beast. I've seen underwater cities made of glass and crystal, built by races that have long since vanished from the world."
-----Gimplefwick places his hands upon his hips and continues his boasting, "I taught Odysseus how to sail. Never mind that he got lost fer twenty years. I've hunted the great white whale of the northern ocean and been shipwrecked with me captain, a sage, a merchant and his wife, an actress, and a farm girl. It seemed like we'd never get off that blamed island."
-----Gimplefwick, seeing the exasperated faces around him, finishes up, "Lately I've been living from hand to mouth here in the city, as I've found no pirate crew worthy of having me in it."
-----Seth smiles as Gimplefwick tells of his exploits. He gives his most courtly bow, "It is I, Sethanales, Minstrel and Harper to the great Dread Gimplefwick Wispybeard. Art Dealer, Opener of doors and other mundane tasks. Also lately of Hand to Mouth."
-----Kazel looks back at the tall man, her hands in her pockets. "My name is Kazel, fine upstanding citizen of Hearthorn and minder of my own business in town. I'm with my friends here for the um... hand to mouth thing, and the mob, as some would put it."
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