7-3-96
                       THE COMING OF THE ZIOTH
                              TURN FOUR


   "Perhaps," said Sahlman, "the time is now to find out what it is
that goes on in Grenzig, neh? This burgher, he is apparently opposed by
the leaders of the town, if it is that these road bandits can become
the guards." He looked sharply at the burgher. "Perhaps he could be so
good as to give us, for whom danger is no longer an uncertainty, more
information?"
   The burgher gave no hint that he would offer any information, so
Ardith asked some more specific questions. "Have you a name? It's not
convenient to always call you 'burgher,' or 'client.'"
   "My name is of no use to you. I hired you to give me entrance into
Grenzig, not to engage in personal conversation."
   Ardith looked annoyed, but continued with another question. "Just
what sort of business are you engaged in, sir?"
   "My buisness is of no relevence to you."
   "Have you any idea why these ruffians want to prevent your entry
into Grenzig?"
   "They are probably overprotective of their town. Perhaps they are
new at their job."
   "Must be pretty new if they attacked us two days ago."
   "Yes, if they had attacked us two days ago, they would be quite
new."
   Ardith was dumbfounded. She had no more questions, so she left the
burgher impatiantly, no wiser for the experience. She looked over the
walls of the town. It was approximately 20' tall, and not at all easy
to climb. The walls were quite smoothe for a town. Clearly, the
townsmen of Grenzig were smart enough to build good walls, even if they
did not guard the walls well. The wall was only three miles on a side,
but the road around it wound so much that it would take at least a
four-hour brisk walk to go all the way around. She also noticed that
there was very little underbrush around the town.
   Ardith suggested to her companions that they follow the road,
looking for a campsite and a way into the town. She warned them to
watch for the theives' camp.
   Ardith and Sahlman followed the wall around town, while Brinn,
Ziedon and Kay searched for the thieves' camp. Stringing his bow as he
walked, and wincing at the pressure this caused his injured shoulder,
Sahlman headed off with Ardith around the right side of the wall, on
the outward edge of medium range for his weapon. As they walked,
Sahlman noted the absence of guards on the walls with a shaking head
and rueful smile. He felt thankful that such fools were on the side of
the opposition, and not on his. Sahlman was happy that Ardith had
accompanied him. She seemed as level-headed as any other person that he
had met in the lands of the Infidel to that point.
   Sahlman noticed no openings in the wall other than a large gate on
either side of the town. He did, however, see several places where
large trees had grown up close to the wall. Apparently, the rulers of
the town were either extremely foolish or not at all afraid of war.
   Meanwhile, Brinn and his group had found the camp. They hid
themselves carefully while watching the thieves. Brinn counted at least
fifty of the outlaws, so he decided strongly against an attack. He knew
that Sahl and Ardith would be a while in their walk, so he remained an
hour watching the thieves. Ziedon and Kay tired of their wait, so they
snuck back to the walls of Grenzig. Brinn, however, remained. He would
have learned nothing from the thieves, if two of high authority had not
conversed ten feet in front of him.
   "This could become quite a profitable venture."
   "Yes, a town in fear is always profitable."
   "More so with this one. We make a greater than usual profit from
chaos in the town, and we get paid by its leaders at the same time."
   "What if they fail, and we are taken down?"
   "Nonsense. If they fail, we can switch sides with ease."
   "I suppose so."
   When there was nothing more to hear, Brinn returned to Grenzig and
reported his findings. By then it was quite late, so the party set up
camp and slept for the night.


***********************************************************************

Notes: Next time, please explore the most obvious possibilities in
your messages. For example, Sahlman could have said what he would do if
he saw trees growing close to the wall. Also, thanks all of you for
answering the turn so promptly

Brinn: Your messages should be more complete. You said "if we get
in," but you didn't offer any suggestion as to exactly how you would
get in.

Sahlman: Your message wasn't late. In fact, I got all the messages,
including yours (by netmail), on the same day. Thanks for sending it
through netmail.

Sahlman has 7/8 HP
Brinn has 7/7
Kay has 6/6
(through various healings from Ardith).

You all forgot to vote this time. Remember, include your votes for
leader with each turn, even if they're the same as the last time. For
now, Ardith remains the leader.

Experience:
Sahlman: 60 (Raised for great writing and good ideas)
Brinn:   30
Kay:     30
Ziedon:  30
Ardith:  50 (Raised for good leadership, ideas, and writing)


I look foreward to your responses! I don't know about everyone else,
but I'm really enjoying this game so far!