With the newly resurrected Frosty flapping discreetly above our heads, we hit the streets of East Port.  Amid the hustle and bustle we saw none of the lewd behavior we had encountered that first day.  Although the blue glow was not as pronounced here, as it had been in the quarry town, it’s effects still seemed to hold sway. I noticed another bard playing the xylophone in the bar at the inn (The Cup and Copper), but with no passion whatsoever.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch with Reginald, the caravan master that had lasted all afternoon.  He wanted us to stop by his agency before we left town:  He thought he could give us a lead on Redsith’s location.

 

We noticed a crowd had gathered in the middle of the street and decided to investigate it.  As we pushed to the front, we heard a voice that seemed to be berating the crowd and then we saw that it belonged to an older gentleman in tattered clothes.  He was speaking ill toward the Church of the Morrow (Yes, the one that Tomas had been connected with).  The crowd regarded him with disdain, and several people were wagging their fingers at him.

 

I felt sorry for the man (whose name we later learned was Oscar of the family, Grump) and cast a spell that made him more poised and his speech, eloquent.  The crowd was not impressed and soon disbursed. 

 

Although we had just eaten it was getting close to suppertime, so we invited Oscar to have a meal with us at the inn.  I soon realized that my companions’ (Kahalla in particular) only interest in Oscar was how much information they could wring from him.  My spell, even if it had done wonders for his tongue, had not abated his aroma.  So, as soon as he had given up the location of the Church of the Morrow, Kahalla sent him on his way, with the mistaken belief that we would find him again and take him with us when we searched for it.  Several hours later, when we did set off for the Church I chanced to look back and saw Oscar patiently waiting for us behind the trashcans at the inn.  I could only shake my head.

 

 

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Two sleepy guards greeted us at the entrance to the Church of the Morrow, so it was an easy matter for Arty to charm one of them while I used some bard tricks I had up my sleeve to charm the other.

 

From what Oscar had told us, we believed that people who had spoken out against the Morrow were being kidnapped and ‘dealt with’, in the rooms below the Church.  Once inside, we told the guards to go and take up their positions at the door, then Kahalla remembered that they might help us gain access to the lower levels so we called them back.  The now eager-to-please guard, stood at the organ, trying to remember the note that would open the secret door to the cellar.  He became frustrated and slammed his fist down on the keyboard.  As you might expect, the cacophony had the desired effect of opening the door but it had also awakened every monk in the building (or so it seemed).

 

At the end of the ensuing battle many monks lay at our feet.  The poor bewildered guards, who had just seen their friends massacred, gave us the room.  We took the dagger amulets that the monks wore around their necks (we had learned from the guards that these were used by the monks to sacrifice themselves, if another suitable sacrifice could not be found) then proceeded to search the cellar.  We found several rooms that appeared to be sleeping quarters and in each one was a statue that didn’t seem to want to be a statue. We surmised that these were actually people who had been turned into stone.  At the moment there was nothing we could do for them.

 

At the end of the hall we found a room that had a special lock.  My last clear thought for a long while was of Valla trying to pick this lock.  A fury bubbled up inside me directed at Kahalla for her treatment of Oscar.  Why did she always have to look down her nose at everyone?  But with this came a deeper hatred…Of  myself and my guilt that I harbored about not being able to save my sister all those years ago (I know I’m going to have to tell you the whole story of my sister at some point, Gerard, but I just don’t have the time or the heart right now).

 

Kahalla and Valla were shouting at each other and Valla was pulling Kahalla’s hair.  All of this was just too much for me to deal with so I collapsed in a ball in the corner of the hall.

 

Finally I think I shouted something and all the emotion drained away and I was calm.  Arty (who was the only one not effected by the spelltrap) had been trying to charm me the whole time but my hatred of myself must have been too strong for him to overcome.

 

Valla suddenly remembered that one of the statues had a key in his hand, so she ran to retrieve it, thinking it would unlock the door.  We heard a noise coming from the stairwell at the other end of the hall and when we went to investigate, we found a hooded figure standing at the bottom of the stairs with her back to us.  Kahalla whispered to me that it could be Lady Gahgah (This is the first time I had realized that the sorceress might have had bad dealings with the carny hag as well) 

 

At the thought of having my tormentor cornered I quickly grabbed for my sword and was about to launch myself down the stairs when Kahalla put her hand on my shoulder and motioned for me to look at some thing.  There were more of the statues lining the wall behind us. It started to sink in; just who we were dealing with. Kahalla quickly came up behind the figure and pulled down her cowl.  The figure turned and met the sorceress’s gaze.  This was a Sister of Medusa!

 

Kahalla was turned to stome.

 

The next thing I knew, Arty had jumped on top of the Sister and cut her head off in what seemed to be one liquid motion.

 

With the Sister dead, not only Kahalla but all the statues around the walls came back to life and we realized that they had already been chained to the wall when the Sister turned them.  We started to free them but they protested, saying they were there as willing sacrifices.

 

And then we heard a commotion from the hall above us and soon found Valla wrestling with tall man in a long flowing robe with the sigil of the Morrow on it.  I realized that this was one of the statues come back to life and I also noticed he was missing a finger.  So Valla had resorted to extreme measures to recover the key.

 

He told us his name (while still struggling with Valla) was Master Simon and it was imperative that he use the key to unlock the door at the end of the passage.  And that he would need Arty’s help once we were inside.  More of Simon’s followers poured into the hallway, subdued Valla, and took the key from her and unlocked the door.

 

Inside the room another of Simon’s followers was standing in one of the Morrow Bowls with a Dagger Amulet to Oscar’s throat.  Simon said he needed Arty to charm Oscar so he would willingly submit to being sacrificed.  Arty refused and in a matter of seconds had sent Simon to meet the Morrow.

 

Even with Simon dead, his followers continued to fight.  But it was Frosty who ended the battle when she was able to kill the follower standing in the bowl with Oscar.  The ground shook and the bowl split in two.  The blue glow faded.

 

Now we knew the secret to destroying the bowls:  An unwilling sacrifice must be killed inside the bowl.  Kahalla wanted to go right then to the Monastery of the Morrow and destroy the Master Bowl there.  But we had a few loose ends to tie up or untie as the case may be.  We found that the sacrifices on the wall were not so willing with the blue glow gone.  Arty picked up the Medusa head and took it with him.

 

Back in town we have found the people much changed.  Their passion has returned but not the erratic behavior.  Kahalla still wants to go straight to the Monastery of the Morrow, but I have reminded her that Reginald wants to see us before we leave town.  Hopefully with the caravan master’s help we will be one step closer to completing our mission and afterwards maybe I can complete my own personal mission.