After Gaigin listens to the representative speak her piece, he nods, "We will return tomorrow, as you say."

"My apologies, we shall return in the morning." Koreth says as his companions move to depart "many thanks for your help." He bows politely and joins back up with his companions.

Tak’ listens silently to the Templar representatives, amazed at how little they radiate wisdom or respect. Surely this ‘Council’ they spoke of would have the leaders every civilized community needed.

Turning to the party, Tak’ waited until all had turned to face his slight, calm visage. "The morn tomorrow will bring a challenge to us, for it appears as though merit, and not payment will decide whether we are worthy of working for Tyr."

"They seek to test us in different ways - to test if we can bend as reed in the river, and stay upright as an oak in a storm. As among us, the only student of the Way, I am best prepared to tackle their test of Psionics." Tak' bows his head, "I hope I do not fail you all."

"And yet my friends," Tak’ says, surveying the bloodied clothes and wounded flesh, "We are not capable of subduing a kitten Tigone, let alone serving Tyr. We have healers among us, and even I am capable of knitting torn bodies together in my own way, but rest and preparation are needed, and we have been given precious little."

"May I suggest we retire until the sun breaks tomorrow? I would be honored to share your dwellings, just as I hope you would be honored to stay with myself and the tribe of Little Kirre

Gaigin turns to the rest of the group, listening to Tak' speak of a place to rest. Once Tak is finished, Gaigin nods.

"Well, If need be we can stay with your "tribe", but I for one would prefer a bed. I'm used to hard sleeping, out in the wastes, but I'll take a bed any day, if one is to be found." Gaigin's mouth hardens. "I would take rest in a Hostel, but those Erdlu-Spawned Templars cheated me out of the last of me pay. If I see them again, I'll extract every last Ceramic Bit from their lying hides."

Aryus stood quietly and patiently while Gaigin and Koreth negotiated with the woman before the gates of the council. He keeps just enough distance so that his pointed ears could pick up the conversation. At the mention of the tests of strength, psionics, and skill, Aryus raised his brow in curiosity.

After the talk, when his companions began to discuss where to stay for the night, Aryus thought quietly to himself. He wondered what this "test" might be.

Koreth breaks in again, "Personally I would prefer we stay at my family's estate, it is the least I can do after those templars cheated us out of so many ceramics." He smiles, thinking of his soft bed with much fondness. "Come, I will take you there...."

"Honor is strong in you indeed noble-Koreth," Tak' presses his palms together and bows, "To share in your hospitality would be as welcome as a palm-leaf in the monsoon season."

Elric nods towards Koreth "I will accept your hospitality graciously, though most of my wounds are healed a soft bed and a good nights rest will help more so."

Aryus causally responds, "I'd be honored to be a guest at the house of Koreth."

Koreth leads you into the noble district and past many shaded estates and houses of the upper classes of Tyr. He brings you to a large walled estate, trees and exotic plants poking up from behind the white painted walls. A group of guards bearing a stylized tembo of the noble house of Harek on their tabards stand guard at the main entrance. A large wooden portcullis blocks a main entrance way that appears large enough for an inix to walk through, and a gate house guards the pulleys that raise and lower the gate. "Just a moment," Koreth says, staying any from moving closer. He strides up to the guards who part quickly to allow him inside.

Scanning the area, noticing the fine craftsmanship of the buildings, Elric smiles "Yes, my new friends I do believe this is a step better from the place I slept last night."

While standing outside Koreth's estate, as Koreth enters inside for a moment, Aryus approaches Gaigin. "I understand that you will have no trouble with the test of strength, and that Tak will surely master the psionics. But my curiosity with the test of skill has motivated me to try it. I like the rest of you do not know what it will test, but for some reason I believe the winds will smile kindly upon me tomorrow."

Koreth slipped inside the estate, walking through the lush gardens and tiled walkways of the outer court. As was her habit, his mother sat before the only fountain in the courtyard, watching it spew water into the air and onto the stone basin around it. She had been beautiful in her youth and was still to the eyes of many, her long blonde hair shining like beaten gold, her skin like milk, her eyes like the deepest pool. She turned, hearing footfalls behind her. Koreth pulled his cloak about his torn shirt, 'No need to worry her' he thought to himself. He smiled as she stood from the bench, spread her arms and moved to embrace him.

"Happy to see me?" Koreth teased her, returning her embrace warmly. "You know I am always pleased to see you Koreth," she smiled as she broke away "you know that." He grins mischievously at her. "Have you any word?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to upset her too much. She sighed, a look of worry etched into her still beautiful, if aged face.

"No." she almost whispered "I have almost given up hope...." Koreth moves to her side, putting his large hands on her shoulders. "Never give up mother," he soothes "we will find her...." She puts her hands onto his, gripping them gently. "What else have you come for Koreth?" she asked plainly. He tries to feign surprise, knowing it to be futile as they part and face each other.

"And visiting you is not enough?" he asks rhetorically. "I can see it in your eyes Koreth, you came to ask a favor." she answers "your father will come home in a few days now." Koreth sighs. "Yes, I know." he pauses a moment before answering "In the morning, I will seek to represent Tyr in an expedition. My companions and I need shelter for the night before we go to the council and petition."

"Companions?" she asked, curious. "They are suitable enough, and have proven themselves in combat." he replies "Such a quest requires many talents...." Her eyebrows rise slightly. "What sort of talents," she probed. "They are as varied as the sands themselves," Koreth replies. She places her hand into one of his. "I hope you know what you are stepping into," she cautions him "be careful." He grips her hand gently. "I am always careful, Crel taught me that lesson well." he tells her "I shall lodge them in the guest house then." She nods her head and motions him to join them. He slips back along a tiled walk and through the gatehouse.

Koreth comes from out of the gatehouse, speaking briefly with the guards posted outside in tones too low for you to hear. He strides over to where you stand. "Come; enjoy the comforts of my home." he says sweeping his arm across the estate. Elric bows slightly to him, "Koreth honor to your family and my thanks for you generosity"

Koreth escorts you in through the gatehouse and past gardens, benches and tiled walk ways to a large building that is separate from the others. From the size of the other building you can see, this must be a guesthouse. He opens one of the large wooden doors and motions you inside. A large room greets you as you pass through the doors; it is cool and inviting. Several doors line the walls and two stairways lead to a small balcony and more doors. A large table sits in the middle of an indented portion of the floor, it has many chairs arranged about it. Several ferns and small trees reside in pots sprinkled about the room as well as several rugs.

"Make yourselves at home tonight, each of the upper doors leads to a room where you may sleep. I will have food and drink brought as well." He moves to a rope along the wall, pulling it. A bell tolls distantly and a young serving girl scurries into the guesthouse, her gaze immediately seeking out Tak and Chit. "Master Koreth, how may I serve you?" she asks. He smiles at her, and motions to the table and she scurries off with an additional glance at the unusual sight of the halfling and kreen.

"Koreth, you hut is wide and elegant. Many feasts must be held here, and the guests must be numerous..." Tak' is somewhat interrupted by the entrance of the serving girl, whom Tak' gives a small, solemn bow to, assuming her to be another member of the household. Upon hearing her subservient voice, Tak' frowns, obviously both disconcerted, then turns away to a sit in an unobtrusive corner, quietly says, "Slavery, either named or not, still walks in Tyr by day and night..."

At the approach of the serving girl, Aryus felt the same as Tak. Servitude was not favored by the lords of air; freedom was. Aryus looks carefully at the girl and tries to figure out whether if she is a slave or a servant. He is apparently unaware of Tyr's new law, freedom for all slaves.

Koreth nods at all the thanks of his companions, "I must make up for that incident with the templars somehow...." He smiles broadly and after noticing the curious glances at the serving girl, he speaks, "she is not a slave, if that's what your thinking. Aria came to work for us after slavery was prohibited."

SMALL TALK

"So it seems we'll have to prove ourselves fit for this job. I'd give me left boot to know what these 'tests' are going to be. A test of "Strength" is all well and good, but such a test could be anything from Log Hurling to Inix wrestling. Whatever it may be, We seem to have a couple of choices. Tak's the obvious choice for the Psionics bit, as he has already agreed to. As for "Strength", I would have to say that of all of us, Koreth and I are probably strongest. Of course, if the other group sends in a Half-Giant or a couple of Muls, it'll be a moot point. Everyone chuckles at his remark.

That leaves "skill". Again that description is to vague for my tastes...but since three can participate, Elric, Aryus, and Chit should be able to handle anything that is asked for." Gaigin pauses, waiting for opinions.

Elric nods "That seems to be the right of it. Between the three of us in the Skill trial we should be able to handle anything that comes our way."

"Or, there is another option. Since only two of the contests need to be won, we could leave out one of the three tests altogether, and stack the odds for the other two. T'would put us in a position of HAVING to win both tests, so I don't know if it's worth it."

As a few other servants bring in food and pitchers, Koreth takes an older gentleman aside and speaks with him briefly. The grey haired fellow nods and smiles as Koreth speaks. When Koreth finishes, the old
man leaves and Koreth turns his attention to the food. Picking up a piece of fruit he says, "So as far as these contests go, we have Tak' as our only challenger in the psionic test, Chit, Ayrus and Elric in the
test of skill, Gaigin and myself in the test of strength? Sounds reasonable enough."

FINALLY REST

Finding his bed, Aryus stretches out lazily feeling the aches throughout his body. It was a long day, a lot had changed in his life, in just one day. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

When the bedrolls have been laid and general small talk had finished, Tak’ stepped away to a sheltered corner, and pulls out his tattoo kit, a series of bone needles and plant dyes. Ever so carefully, in a ritual
that is centuries old, Tak’ pierced skin, and applied color, slowly but surely creating an image on his left forearm.

Two abstract figures, drawn in black, standing over smaller figures drawn in white. Once he had finished, Tak’ looked at his new tattoo with grim pride. He had defended his tribe once more, and now it was recorded.

Reaching deep into his nexus once more, Tak’ grimaced - he had not pushed his Will this hard since he was a student under Shaman Wek’Lo’Raq. Finding his Will, Tak’ poured it into his body, not with abundance, but with a practiced and delicate skill. Finding cut flesh and bruised muscle, Tak’ joined what he could together, and rejuvenated cells which were dead.

Visibly sweating with exertion Tak’ fell to his knees, exhausted from his minor healing attempt. "Perhaps," he says to himself between pants, "Tomorrow will be an easier day." With that Tak’ laid down on the soft bed and slept; Dreaming of trees, water, and community.

Gaigin muttered to himself as he prepared to sleep. His arm still stung a little, and his back ached where he had been struck. Now with this test tomorrow, Gaigin was having serious doubts about the whole thing. Still, he could hardly abandon the mission now, not when he had come so close. Sighing, Gaigin begins the process of laying out his equipment. With painstaking attention to detail, he checks every strap on his armor, tests the edge of his spear, and carefully examines the contents of his canvas-wrapped weapon. As an afterthought, Gaigin loosens the cord, making the weapon easier to draw when needed. Content that everything was in order, Gaigin finally lays back and goes to sleep.

25^th day of the 190th King's Age - Year of the Desert's Fury (Free Year 11) - The Free City of Tyr

THE TESTS

The sun was still on its ascending path and not a cloud could be seen on the horizon when the companions retraced their steps towards the Golden Tower. The morning was strangely calm, as even the wind seemed to be resting today. The much better rested heroes talked to the female half-elven bureaucrat who quickly ushered them to the main meeting hall. Three of the five members of the Overcouncil were there. A huge mul was talking to another group of people while a dwarf eyed and weighted a dark sphere in his palm. It was Sadira, the preserver, who walked up to them. "Welcome, welcome all," was all she said while looking each one of the heroes over. Her striking beauty left more than one would be suitor slack-jawed.

Rikus, the mul, walked over to them trailing the other group. His stance commanded respect even to those who did not know that in front of them stood one of Kalak's killers. The mul cleared his throat and said, "We have narrowed down the selection to two teams who bid for this dangerous job. It is in the benefit of the Tyrian people that we hold these tests." Rikus moved aside to let Gar Bonehammer continue, "We each have a seat in the Overcouncil and will be overseeing the tests. We won't do any choosing ourselves but are here to insure that the best team wins. There will be three tests, one of Strength, one of Psionics, and one of Skill. These are some of the qualities that the team must have in order to succeed. The winning team must come out victorious in at least two of the three tests." The mul interrupted again, "I personally would rather you fought it out but was convinced by my fellow members that this wasn't the best way." The mul's serious countenance left many doubts as to whether he was joking or not. Sadira broke in, "We want the team to be in good shape for the perils that are sure to come. We will explain the details of the work to the winning team only. Rikus will oversee the first test, the test of Strength"

The mul started to walk to the outside of the Golden Tower by a side door. "Please follow me. We can all go since the tests will be held consecutively." Both groups of adventurers followed the gladiator. The sun had risen halfway through the sky and you could swear that it was quite a bit hotter than earler in the morning. Once outside, the mul states, "The reason we are here is that we cannot get good footing on the tiled floor." He nods to one of the four guards that were accompanying the groups. The guard produced a thick black rope at least 80 feet long. The mul´s sandals raise dust on the courtyard. He lays out the rope, takes out a steel dagger and draws three lines separated 20 feet apart each other. He looks at you and explains, "A simple tug of war. The team who gets pulled over the middle line looses."

Koreth unclasps his leather belt while Gaigin flexes his muscles as they get ready. Upon eyeing the opposing team, the latter chuckles, "Ye see, I missed by one. They ONLY have one thickheaded mul." Tak' walks up to the two warriors and adds, "Size is not the only sign of strength…" His speech is cut short when another large human steps in and grabs the other end of the rope along with a warrior woman. "Well… the tribe will be proud of you nevertheless."

They started to pull when Rikus lowered his hand. Muscles standing out in rippling cords, teeth gritted, and more than a few grunts was the scene in the hot courtyard. Gaigin and Koreth had both wrapped the giant-hair rope around their arms ad hands. The strain could be seen in both of their faces but it was to no avail. After a few minutes of pulling, the 'thickheaded' mul led the other team to a slow victory as the heroes were pulled over the middle line. Both Gaigin and Koreth were greeted by their fellow members who tried to cheer them up. Even though they were outnumbered, the heroes gave a tough battle as could be witnessed by the panting mul, a sight not common in Athas.

After all the sweating and grunting, it was very recomforting to be inside once again. Both groups were led by the dwarf, Gar Bonehammer to a private meeting room. Here, two colorful hurrum beetles played their soothing song inside a large cage; everyone involuntarily started to whisper. The room was strangely bare of furniture with a beautifully tiled mosaic floor showing a panoramic view of the Free City. Gar pulled out a shiny black sphere the size of an erdlu egg. He motioned both teams of participants to sit down and explains, "The sphere has been psionically prepared to be moved by raw psionic energy. You cannot use any powers but rather 'feed' it psionic energy. The obsidian black sphere moves away from the energy received thus each team must push it away from them towards the opposing team.

The halfling warrior nods acknowledging the simple instructions and sits down cross-legged. "I must concentrate and let my Will flow forth. Do not fear, I will prevail." Tak tries to empty his mind of any worries; an image of his verdant jungle home comes to blocks his view. Two of the opposing group's members sat against him, a lanky elf and human female patted each other for encouragement and sat down.

Gar places the heavy dark sphere in between the two team holding it briefly. "You may start pouring your Will forth and I will then let go of the sphere." Each team concentrates and the object is released. The dark sphere almost instantly starts moving towards Tak but curiously enough it was not rolling along the floor as expected but rather being dragged by the psychic energy. Beads of sweat started to show on all three players but the sphere still moved closer to the halfling who was doing all he could to stop it. The companions had one thought on their mind; "maybe it wasn't such a great idea to let Tak participate on his own." They had been outnumbered before and it looked like it was about to happen again.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud grunt from the lanky elf. Apparently, his Will had depleted as he got up and left the human female alone. Tak smiled as he poured forth his Will with renewed vigor and was rewarded by not only the stopping of the sphere but the actual displacement of it in the opposite direction. The female psionicist started to violently shake as perspiration started to drench her reddened face. Meanwhile, Tak looked as calm as he was at the start, the human sighed heavily and dropped backwards just as the black sphere reached her side. She was quickly up and nodded courteously to the halfling master. Tak had won the grueling test but his Will felt almost as drained as yesterday.

The companions went over to congratulate the small hunter and looked upon him with new respect. They frowned when they heard the loud comments from the other team. What looked to be an elven rogue who hadn't yet participated was furious, "What is this shit about nodding in defeat, ye should have won or at least not be so dam smog about it. You were beaten by an unschooled barbarian and you nod to him! I told you to let me participate in this! My psychokinetic skills are unsurpassed!"

Sadira leads you all to the main meeting hall once again. "This test will decide which of our teams will get the job. Gaigin curses his bad luck at loosing the test of Strength; he and Koreth had come so close but were defeated by the three other warriors. The tension had grown steadily since the boisterous comments from the elven rogue. A priest and the elven thief came forward to try and beat Ayrus the wind mage, Elric the warrior-wizard and the kreen druid. Sadira explained as she gave a series of blocks to both parties of contestants. "You must solve the puzzle and pile the blocks accordingly. The first one to finish it will be the winner."

Elric and Ayrus decided to be the builders fearing the large arms of the kreen would make the blocks tumble down. The kreen however grasped the blocks three and four at a time and quickly turned them around in his deft hands. The other party was not faring as well and the lanky thief kept arguing with the cleric. Still their pyramid was coming along, it looked to be that the companions would win if the current status of things did not change. Everyone could see that as the moments passed, it was only a matter of time for the companions to win and thus get the cherished job. Their pyramid was almost done when, suddenly, without anyone touching it, the blocks all tumbled down in a large heap. Both Elric and Ayrus [Dm's note: only they felt it] who were building the pyramid felt a force knock down the blocks…

Your actions.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Here is the situation as it stands right now (see below for new scale).

Gaigin (SiW)

Koreth (SiW)

Elric (SiW)

Tak (SiW)

Chit (H)

Ayrus (SiW)

Try and think of the following when you answer the turn.

• What you will do if you get job
• Series of questions you will ask about the job
• What your expectations (money or otherwise) are
• What you will need, etc.