Alliances

Since I missed last night, I'll throw one in for tonight.  Most of my posts will be from Monday through Friday nights.

"Pray, how exactly did you get past the guards and into this place," the Prince asked his rescuers.  They were seated around a table in the main meeting room under the light of lanterns.  One man was tending to the warrior's wounds while another fed him wine.

"Well, where there's a will there's a way, but never mind that," one man standing replied. "Tell us, what is your name?"

"Hmm.  My name is long gone... most simply call me 'The Prince."" he grinned and grimaced at once.  The man holding the wineskin looked at the man standing. The Prince rubbed his beard. "I have to say I definitely need a shave."  He felt of his hair. "And a trim."  His face grew long. "What day is this?"

The standing man told him, and the Prince stared off into space. "Where has the time gone?"

"Perhaps you should tell us what happened?" Wine man prompted.

The Prince lounged further in his chair. "We, meaning my two friends and I, went back to the second level to search for a former ally who betrayed us at a critical moment.  We had already lost one friend, and vowed to hunt this evil priest down and kill him.  We searched in an area we throught we had cleared... found a secret door... and encountered a lich."

At the word, all backs stiffened.

"Xis," the Prince continued. "Something of a local legend around here, if memory serves.  Anyway, after a short discussion, Xis brought some sort of magic to bear and paralyzed all three of us.  After that, it's blank.  I remember waking up on a platform just six hours ago or so.  I saw one of my friends on another platform but another is missing.  I escaped, found some weapons, and encountered a particularly dangerous northern lass who I thought I killed before," he wiped his brow. "She's a werewolf, by the way, hence this gut wound."

"She bit you?" The standing man asked.

"Um... yes.  So we'll see..."

"What are your friends' names?" Wine man asked.

"Qovakrisstia Darkhair, who is missing, and Arbiddance, who I left on the slab so to speak."

Standing man moved closer. "It's Arbiddance we seek.  He's a member of a magical order who hired me to find him.  You've really been missing for two months or more, and his superiors are worried about him."

"Superiors?" the Prince laughed. "He barely acknowledges equals.  He never said anything about belonging to an order of any type other than perhaps a gentleman's club somewhere."

"Well, he does and it's our job to rescue him.  Can we rely on you to lead us back to him?"

"Listen, that's a lich down there," the Prince snapped. "Try getting his 'superiors' here to deal with that.  I can't fight magic.  On the other hand, if you bring up sufficient force...perhaps I can get close enough to slip one of these in the lich's chest." He reached out and fingered one of his blades on the table.

"But one way or another, I have to get my friends out of there."