***Excerpt from Serdin Karakth\'s
Notes.***
Today I recalled an adventure I had while I was studying magic by myself in Hydlaa....
It happened a long time ago, around the time of the great Turmoil; indeed, it was an event which would predict the Turmoil to come. I was strolling through the plaza, enjoying myself with two friends, Seperot and Goland, after a day of studying. I recall we were joking between ourselves when suddenly an enkidukai (Swodan I believe his name was) who had dragged himself into the plaza let out a cry of anguish. \"Rogues! Bandits! Thieves!\" I recall him crying. Immediately we rushed to his side, just in time to catch him as he fell to his knees. It was clear that he had been in some sort of fight; he was matted in blood, coughing and panting. I immediately reached for my salves to help that poor soul, applying them in the way I was taught by my parents. It seemed to help a little. As I applied my salves the enkidukai began to tell us his tale: A female enkidukai he was meeting in front of the tavern (I never did learn why they were meeting) was captured by a stocky rogue. The lady was none other than Saradi, the wife of the city guard! Swodan told us that the lady was taken into the dungeon; the rogue soon returned and made an attempt on Swodan\'s life. The rogue told Swodan that he\'d seen too much; that he would soon witness the collapse of the city and all that it stands for. This piqued the interest of Seperot...He has a certain affinity for such things. In truth I should have been worried, but such was the time when any drunken warrior would spout off gibberish prophesizing the end of the world and the collapse of the System of the city; looking back now I think we would have done well to heed them. No, I was far more concerned about the damsel in distress (one must note that in those days I did little but read books in Jayose\'s library while waiting for my next lesson; my head was full of heroic fantasy and I fancied myself a hero waiting for a chance to prove himself). After having helped Swodan as best we could, setting him up in the Tavern to rest, we began planning how best to enter the dungeons. On a suggestion from Seperot, we bought a hundred metres of rope and hiked to the temple of Laanx (the agonised look on the priest\'s features when he saw us trampling through his holy Temple will forever bring a smile to my face). We tied the rope to a columnn and abseiled down into the dungeon. We landed amidst several sacrifices to Laanx; dead animals, trinkets, broken pottery...Naturally we did not touch the sacrifices, but continued our cautious ascent into the sacrifice pits. Several times we nearly slipped, Galand and I (Seperot had no problem jumping down to platforms below. He is, after all, an enkidukai). After some near mishaps, we found ourselves in the dungeons. Little more than a few minutes had we spent wandering the dungeons when we heard a woman\'s voice crying out for help. Immediately our minds went to Saradi. We ran through the tunnels and soon came to a suspended cage dangling over a pool of water, with the poor lady trapped inside. A quick search in the rubble around the cage produced the key to the cage, which was carried up to the ceiling by the acrobatic Seperot. Galand and I remained below, to catch the lady as she fell from the ceiling. Having rescued the damsel in distress (who was not too injured; just a swollen ankle if I recall correctly), we set off to escape from the dungeon. We had no way to return to the temple, but I believe Seperot knew of another way out of the dungeons. The details now are lost in the mists of time, but I believe that on the way we encountered several foes trying to block our flight. It was only when we were climbing the stairs that we realized that something powerful was coming our way; sounds of footsteps and fighting gaining on us. I remember reaching the top of the stairs and bursting out of a cellar (I think we tried to block our stalkers? paths by wedging barrels in the doorway) and falling several feet into a garden below. Seperot, however, was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly looking down at us from the wall we?d just fallen from was a heavily-veiled man wielding an evil-looking blade. He was just about to jump down and kill us all I think when suddenly Seperot emerges from behind him, blade in hand. Having the element of surprise, Seperot made quick work of his foe and soon joined us in the garden below. He?d found a note on the dead man?s body, which read something along the lines of, ?Keep the prisoner in the cage until I arrive ? The Prince of Rogues.?
This was just one of the episodes that foretold of the coming troubles. It is easy to look back on it now, after all is said and done, and link it in with what happened next. Unfortunately things were not so clear to us then. Ah, now I grow weary of writing of times past. My bed beckons, and my candle has nearly burnt itself out. Perhaps tomorrow I shall continue this tale....
Serdin Karakth
[[Guys sorry it\'s all one paragraph...Wrote it up on my PDA at school >.>]]
