Chapter Four: The Manifest of the Harikan Squall

Zangua just sees lots of household junk -- furniture, containers, tools, clothing, fabrics. There's a sour, musty smell to it all.

As soon as Mordred begins to open the door at the top of the stairs, somebody screams: a loud, brief shriek. Then, footsteps rapidly pounding as somebody starts running, yelling "AUNTIE! AUNTIE! Graverobbers! I TOLD you!"

You hear more footsteps and more yelling, but you can't quite make out what's being said. You hear a crash, as though somebody just knocked over a small table with something breakable on it.

So if we need to use pseudonyms while in Hazard, I call Rosco P. Coltrane.

Felor sees the spearpoint rounding the corner to his left just in time to lunge out of its way as its wielder skids to a stop in front of him.

Holding the ancient bronze weapon is an old woman, her gray hair pinned up in a messy approximation of a high court style and wearing a gauzy gray dress. A woman of about forty, similarly coiffed and dressed, follows behind her, a look of abject terror on her face, tightly gripping a tarnished silver candelabra in both hands.

"Back!" the old woman snarls. "The guards are already on their way! If you lay a hand on us you'll be skinned and quartered and fed to dogs! Now lay down what you stole and get OUT of this house and I'll CONSIDER telling them to be lenient on you!"

"PLEASE DON'T KILL US!" the younger woman screams.

"You can tell a thief by the lies he tells!" the old woman snaps, jabbing the air in front of Leth with her spear. "You heard me. Lay it all down. Then out with you. The guards will be here any moment! You don't want them to see you menacing two vulnerable ladies! They will cut you down where you stand!"

The old woman presses her spearpoint into Zangua's side as he steps past, but Zangua has little concern of her piercing his armor. After he asks his question, the younger woman gasps. "The family dance!" The old woman makes a shushing sound.

"That's it, out you go. And the rest of you. Drop what you stole and follow this one out."

The young woman covers her mouth and exclaims softly: "They know...!"

The old woman squints. "He says you wandered in here by accident," she says, pointing the spear at Leth. "And you say you're here to help. And I say you're graverobbers!"

"Auntie, if they saw...if they tell the guards..."

The old woman's eyes dart back and forth. She lowers the spear slightly. "All of you just get out, begone! Might be if you hurry the guard won't catch you. Small price to pay if it gets you out of my sight faster. Go on, go!" She waves her arm to the left, presumably in the direction of the nearest exit.