The Jade Clan encampment

"Well" Manon asks "what shall we do with the prisoners? Is 
there any need to detain them any longer?"

Mac answers "I still do not trust them. To me they seem like Dark Elves. I 
hate dark elves. I'd say take them back to the desert, as is. 
Let them deal with it there."

Manon turns to Mac "I agree, we leave them in the desert and 
they can go wherever they choose"

Kai speaks in his characteristic monotone:
"you realise that now we are at the edge of the jades tribe no 
longer near the ambush site and releasing them would only serve to let them 
rejoin their fled comrade"

Mac looks to Kai.

"I hadn't forgotten that. Here is the plan. Manon, Beren, and 
Dax will enter the lizardmen village. Kai and I will take you to the village 
and then come back. We will wait for your return just outside of the 
village. If you haven't shown back up in 6 hours, Kai and I will come in 
after you. Otherwise we will meet up outside the village and come back 
here. Once we are sufficiently outside of the village and very far from 
anything at all, we will release the elves in the desert to fend for 
themselves."

Mac grins. 

"If the elves we have can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 
they are not dark elves, then they will be set free with most of the gear, 
food and water. Otherwise, we'll see how they fend in the desert without."

Kai responds: "very well but we must make haste if we are to 
arrive not too long after the elf we sought"

"Manon, Beren, Dax? Kai and I will return to the chateau and 
show up where we drop you off, one of us will be there nearly 
constantly. "

Mac grins.

"We need to make a trip to Pomo to find a way to heal Gwar. He 
is doing us no good in bed, and the magic we have is not strong enough 
to heal him."

Dax responds to Mac, saying
"Those among my tribe can alssso heal, perhapss if you make no 
enemies there one could help your friend."

"Well then" Manon concludes "I am ready to depart. But I would 
suggest Kai and Beren trade place. Kai coming with me and Beren 
helping Mac."

Turning towards Kai Ehron continues "I do need your wits for 
this encounter."

The count is clad in his desert clothes with his breastplate 
visible underneath his dark brown cape, sword hanging in his 
belt.

Mac injects "No problem. One of us will wait here starting in an hour for 5 
minutes every 20 minutes."

Appearing in the desert "Follow me, then," says Dax, standing and marching over the 
crest of the dune toward the north.  Kai sheathes his sword and stands, 
following.  Beren waits with Mac, bidding farewell to Manon.  Manon follows as 
well.

Once Dax's group is beyond the dune, Mac and Beren return to 
the chateau.

To the north, beneath the sweltering sun, Dax and his 
companions see a large group of camels tied together near a shimmering stretch of 
ground which appears to be a pool of water.  Nearby, several large brown and yellow 
tents have been erected.  The entire camp is within another trough -- more of a 
valley judging by the size of it, and a few dozen reptile men can be seen 
moving about as the group approaches.

When Dax is still about 400 meters away from the edge of the 
camp, the group notices six large reptile men moving towards you from the 
camp's edge, intent on intercepting your course.  Without slowing, Dax presses on, 
until the six are within speaking range.  They are armed with axes and 
crossbows, and speak the language of the Jades.  Dax converses with them briefly, 
and they look over the group, then turn back to the camp, spreading out 
around the group to escort them.  Dax, Kai, and Manon follow.

Manon follows Dax and leave the six armed reptile men to guard 
the whole group. The count keeps an eye on the guards, walking 
casually and calm towards the encampment.

Upon reaching the encampment, Dax speaks with some more Jades, 
then speaks to the two of you, saying, "Wait here.  I will try to arrange an 
audience for you with our leader."

With that, he disappears.  The six guards remain nearby, lazily 
carrying their crossbows and hanging their heads in the sun.  Another Jade, 
perhaps female, though neither of you is certain, approaches you and deposits a 
small, full wineskin, then returns into the camp.

The camp appears quite large, not that you are nearer.  You 
guess there are at least a thousand Jades present, and perhaps more.

Upon inspection of the wineskin, you will find it contains 
water.

After about fifteen minutes pass, another Jade arrives, speaks 
with the guards, and then motions the two of you to follow.  He takes you about 
20 meters into the encampment to a small tent, and motions you inside, 
leaving the front flap open.  Inside, it is somewhat stuff, but you are out 
of the sun, and much more comfortable(Manon, anyway).  Four of the six 
guards disperse, the remaining two take up a position at the front of the tent.

Another hour passes, then Dax arrives.
"He will sssee uss.  I will sspeak for you, if you like.  Come."

Dax exits the tent, and leads the two of you deeper into the 
encampment.  The two door guards follow behind you.  A few minutes later, you 
arrive at another tent, guarded by two Jades wearing scale armour, which 
is somewhat rare.  Dax speaks briefly to them, and they nod.  Dax enters 
the tent, and you follow.  Inside, another two guards question Dax, who 
again speaks quickly to them, and they retreat to the corners of the tent.

Inside the tent is a stone staircase, leading down.  Dax 
descends.  You follow.

The stairs go down about 20 feet, then continue in a straight 
stone hall, about 8 feet wide and 8 feet tall.  The ceiling glows faintly, 
providing enough light to see.  The hall proceeds for about 20 meters, 
terminating in a stone door, flanked by two more armoured Jades.  They speak briefly to 
Dax, then the stone door slowly opens, as if on its own.  Inside, is a 
large chamber, well-lit.  It is obviously a throne room.  A few small 
passageways lead away from it on the far side of the room, but yours is the only 
entrance from the near side.  The room is about 15 meters wide and 30 meters 
deep.  Near the far side of the room is a throne, upon which is seated one 
of the largest Jades either of you has ever seen.  Beside him on either side 
are three armoured warriors.  To your left are about a dozen Jade females 
and children. You also note the presence of two decorated, elderly Jades, who 
give the appearance of priests or shamans.

Dax marches forward into the room, kneels and speaks to the 
figure on the throne.  He then looks to the two of you, saying, "What do you 
wish to assk?"

Dax marches forward into the room, kneels and speaks to the 
figure on the throne.  He then looks to the two of you, saying, "What do you 
wish to assk?"

Kneeling much in the way Dax just did, Manon pays the Jade 
sitting on the throne his respect. Speaking in the Jade tongue 
Manon greets "Most honourable" then standing up and switching 
back to his native language Garian, Ehron expects Dax to 
translate what he is just about to say. 

"I am Count Manon Ehron son of Sir Grantor Ehron from the 
Castle of Han D'or. My friend and I have come to you to ask 
your advice" Pausing to let Dax translate, he then continues to 
speak "We have reason to believe that a war between humans and 
elves is on the verge of breaking out" (pause) "Our concern is 
to prevent this from happening" (pause) "We also believe that 
the desert, and to be more precise, the expansion of the desert 
can have a crucial part in the larger scheme" (pause) 
"Therefore we would like to speak to you of this pressing 
matter"

Each time Dax translates Ehron tries to hear if Dax translates 
correctly.

The king/chief/leader responds to Dax in a raspy hissing, which 
Manon cannot understand beyond a word here and there, and Dax translates.

"Of war, why sshould we care if Elves reclaim the land sstolen 
by Man?  Of the desert, what care I if your sssquatting farmers must ssseek 
other lands to plunder?  The desert is our home, now as always -- it has 
grown larger in the centuries we have called it home, but never sso fassst as 
when itss borders were filled with humans."

Manon replies "I understand the desert is your home and as your 
home grows so can you." (pause) "But a war will cause great 
suffering for all who dwell in this world, unfortunately also 
including the Jade Clan." (pause) "But I do thank you for 
informing me of the human effect on the growing desert."

Kai leans into you, close enough for the pommel of his sword to 
touch your side.  You hear him say, "I am not convinced that he hath said 
the cause of the desert's expansion is the advancement of humans, but rather 
merely noted as if by coincidence that the two events are paralleled.  He 
seems skilled in politics, for he says much while giving away little."

Contemplating your comments, the Jade responds.
"You ssay you have come for advice.  Asssk usss what you will 
know.  We have important things to attend to.  Fear not for usss, human -- it 
is your own home you should be ssafeguarding.  You musst undersstand, the 
Jades have been friends to the Elves sssince before the firsst humans were 
created -- and there are many Jades who ssuffer under the oppresssive humans 
that neighbour uss.  We will lose no sssleep over humans who get their due."

Following this, Kai concludes, "Perhaps I was too quick to 
judge -- he says  more than I think he indented to."

Manon once again answers the old jade "Things done can not be 
undone and I apologise for what my people have done to the Jade 
Clan. I consider myself a friend of both Elves and the Jade 
Clan and I wish to see no one harmed in any way" (pause) "But I 
suspect the expanding desert is forcing the humans deeper in to 
the rightful land of the elves and that elves are contemplating 
a strike to prevent the Humans to expand further south"

The Jade listens, seems somewhat surprised as Dax translates 
your reply to him, then quickly responds.  Dax says, "You guesss well, Count, 
or you know more than you ssshould.  At any rate, it is already too late 
for the offending ssstates to the sssouth.  Our informantss tell us that what you 
ssusspected has already begun, and that Tix was the firsst to fall."

Acting surprised the count continues "Tix fallen?" he sighs 
deeply "What can be done to stop this folly?" Addressing the old 
jade once again "Will you help to stop this war?"

Dax translates for you, and you note that the chief seems to 
sigh, then responds.  Dax translates his words to you:
"The Jade clan is like an old, ssstrong tree.  We bend 
with changes, and we never break.  We mussst remain neutral in thiss war 
until we ssee how it developss, before we will intervene directly."

Bowing towards the chief Manon concludes "I am grateful for 
your time. May your reign be long and prosperous"

Kai mimics Manon's bow.  Dax says a few more words to the 
chief, then turns and leads Manon and Kai from the chamber.  The three of you 
travel the length of the hall and upstairs, finally exiting the tent you 
originally entered and finding yourself in the centre of the encampment.

Dax asks, "What now, ssir?"

It is now approximately 1030 in the morning.

Kai speaks, saying "we have not yet seen what business our elf 
had here or any sign of him  is there any way you could determine his 
business or whereabouts dax" in his familiar monotone.

Ehron answers "Let us wander about and see what is happening 
here in the camp before we return to our friends"

Manon will look for signs of military activity. He will also 
estimate how many lives here and how many soldiers are present.

Manon notes that he has seen thus far several hundred Jades, 
mostly males and almost all armed.  His knowledge of their culture leads him to 
believe that this is typical of the nomadic race; even their females are 
typically skilled in battle.  Wandering a bit, the three of you encounter no 
resistance from any of the Jades, although you are a source of constant 
scrutiny.  Dax stays close to Manon and Kai, making it clear that he is escorting 
the other two.

You see no other non-Reptilemen, and upon climbing to the 
summit of a dune, you are able to see the expanse of the encampment, which you 
discover is several miles across, slightly larger than the city of Tix.  
You do note the presence of several Gold clan reptile men as well, during your 
wandering.

This takes you about half an hour, bringing it now to 1100 
local time.  The sun is rising quickly in the sky, and most of the streets are 
emptying as  the locals move their business within the shade of tents.

Feeling the sun baking down Manon decides to return to Mac and 
the hidden chateau. Turning to Dax he says "Let us return to 
the others".

You head back toward the edge of the encampment, following 
behind Dax.  Walking back, you catch sight of a silhouette that looks human, and 
looking closer, you recognise the Elf you confronted in the desert last night.  
He has his back to you, and is speaking to a couple of heavily armed, 
armoured Jades. He is about 20 yards away, in the shade beside a tent.

As soon as Manon recognises the elf he turns to Kai "This is 
elf mage I chased and met after the battle last night."

Kai briefly observes, then quickly pulls you behind a nearby 
tent, out of sight of the Elf.  "our mission here is not yet complete ere we 
learn to what end the elf hath travelled here perhaps dax alone might carry 
my blade which through simple sorcery i might use to listen to him"

Dax explains, "The Elf sspeakss with guards -- the chief'ss 
own, by their marksss.  I can try to sspeak with them, but it will sseem odd 
to them."

Manon concludes "Would they be surprised you being interested 
in a stranger and elf being in the desert, being the guide 
you are? You could simply enough be interested in another days 
work?"

"Perhapss.  I will try."

Kai quickly removes his belt, holds the sheathed dagger/sword 
close, and mouths some words quietly.  A moment later, he says to Dax, 
"wear this and I will hear what you hear", and hands him the belt.  Dax dons 
the belt, and walks into the sunlit avenue, heading toward the Elf.

Dax returns after about ten minutes.  He hands the belt back to 
Kai, who puts it back on.  dax asks, "Did you hear, Kai?"  Kai responds, 
"i heard all but did not understand what was said in your tongue"

Dax speaks, "As I approached, they sspoke of humans.  The guard 
ssaid to the Elf, 'we will push them back to the ssea with ssand', and the 
Elf replied, 'the sssouth will not trouble you'"

"Speaking Garian, I assked if the elf needed a guide.  He 
assked if I knew the Melnibian.  I ssaid I did.  He tells me he leaves tonight, 
with or without me, for a place Northeast of Pomo.  He wishes my aid to 
travel without rissk of being accossted, he ssaid."

Kai speaks, "i heard the same  truly it seems that the elf and 
the jade clans are in alliance which bodes poorly for Garia  we must return 
with our news and decide if we should meet the elf ambassador tonight ere he leaves"

"Let us leave, and meet the others" Manon says. "We must inform 
them of what have happened"

Manon, Kai, and Dax head north.  You arrive at the place where 
Mac should meet you at about 11:30.  A few minutes later, Mac appears out of nowhere.

"Hello! Nice to see you again. How did things go? Before you 
get started, we have a visitor. An elf who came looking for me and found me. 
So be prepared. His mission is the same as ours. Stop the war and 
find a reason for the expansion of the desert. By the way, he's very skilled in the arts."

Mac waits on an answer before going back.

Kai responds, "i would discuss our news with all together in a 
more discrete venue and suggest we away immediately"

As soon as Mac breaks the wand and Kai, Mac, Dax and Manon 
return to the hidden castle Manon recapitulates what happened 
in the reptile men tented encampment.

Manon starts "We where granted audience to the, what I presume, 
chief of the Jade Clan" Turning towards Dax, "Correct me if I 
am wrong Dax." The count then continues "He was not all to 
impressed with my concern of the expanding desert. He was 
although quite surprised when I expressed my concern for an 
elven pre-emtive strike towards human settlements in the 
vicinity of the desert. He then mentioned that Tix had fallen 
already." taking his coat off and handing it to Beren the count 
continues, "The chief made it very clear that the Jade Clan and 
the elves had know each other since the dawn of time, and cared 
little of the war between humans and elves. He even thought 
that it was due time the elves reclaimed the land mankind had 
taken from the elves. His exact words where "home you should be 
safeguarding.  You must understand, the Jades have been friends 
to the Elves since before the first humans were created -- and 
there are many Jades who suffer under the oppressive humans that 
neighbour us.  We will lose no sleep over humans who get their 
due." When we where about to leave the encampment we ran in to 
the elf that escaped from the fight last night, which I chased 
and in turn let go. He where talking to a couple of the chief's 
personal guards. Dax approached the group and asked if the elf 
where interested in a guide. Dax overheard one guard saying "We 
will push them back to the sea with sand" and the Elf replied 
"he south will not trouble you." The elf told Dax stated he was 
on his way to Melnibian ,a place Northeast of Pomo.

The count looks at the others listening carefully, "Then we 
returned, and here we are" Turning towards Mac he asks "What 
have happened here since we left?"

The count proceeds to sit down in one of the chairs and asks 
Beren to give him something eat and drink.

First of all, those who arrived noticed that a stranger is 
sitting in a chair, plucking his lute while he's resting. He is an Elf 
He looks with interest at those who entered, and then to Mac, as if waiting to be 
introduced 

Mac starts, "First let me introduce you to Mirtil. He is an elf with 
similar quest as our own. He will be interested in your story."

Mirtil nods at this: "I am Mirtil Riventhorn and I'm pleased to 
meet you gentlemen, despite the grave circumstances."
Bowing slightly to all present.

"I am sir Manon Ehron son of Grantor Ehron from the Castle of 
Han D'or." Manon introduces himself with a bow.

Mac leads the group upstairs and sits and waits until all are 
present.

Mac retells, "After you left, I began to talk to the elves. I got very 
little out of them and honestly was prepared to leave them off in the middle 
of the desert with nothing to die. No offence Mirtil, but to me they 
were dark elf. Kraken left to eat and I just relaxed while I had the 
chance. After I went to the desert for the first time to look for you, Beren 
said that the Kraken had returned, wounded, with an elf. I went upstairs 
to talk to the elf and he told me he was looking for me and was sent this 
way by insight of the gods. He was looking for the Mac Kodiac who 
helped to save the Ankh of Ammara about 100 years ago."

Mac pauses, takes a drink of wine and continues.

"He healed Gwar somewhat and we began speaking about the Ankh 
and the sights I have witnessed since the beginning of this adventure a 
few days back. He asked to speak with the elves and we learned little, 
save the elven nation is preparing for war. What you say confirms this."

Mirtil says:
"Well, not only this. First, from their way of speaking I 
deduct that they really can be the exiled elves, who you humans call dark. 
And secondly, I believe they were on a mission to Jade clan 
reptiles, asking them for help, and this mission was success. They will 
need their co-operation when moving their troops through the desert. 
But this is odd. It will be Thessalian army, which will move 
through the desert, not Dunkelians. And if the agents from Dunkels are 
sweeping way for Royal forces, the ties between Thessalian throne and 
exiled kin are stronger that is visible."

Mac says, "We can now safely assume that the elves/reptile men are 
preparing for war. They are also the cause behind the expansion in the 
desert. But how? A day ago I would not have believed that Tix just disappear, 
but now I know there are strong magic at work."

Mirtil jumps up, swallowing his comment to the remark about 
prepared war and this that elves are those who caused the desert to 
expand: "What?? Tix disappeared??"

Almost sighing the count answers "Yes, sad but true. And I 
would not have believed it if not had seen it with his own eyes"

Mac continues "Oh! Let me tell you the story of Tix. We met in Tix after the 
Tixian guard was trying to apprehend a spy. We spend a night in a cell 
together. The following morning when we were gathering up our things to 
leave Tix, those of us with magical ability detected a hum of magic 
throughout Tix. 

We left Tix and a couple of hours later, found the Tixian 
guard. I volunteered to fly back to Tix to tell the commander of the 
guards fate. This I did. When I returned to Tix, the magical hum had turned 
to pounding, pulsating, like a bass drum. I told my tale to the 
guard commander and it stopped. Tix began to shrink down upon itself. 
I flew upwards and went through some sort of no-mana zone and had to 
recast my flight spell. I watched as I could, but Tix was shrinking. In 
it's place was left a grassy area. I saw some Reptile men running toward 
the shrinking city, but little else."

Mac stops his tale and looks to Mirtil.

"Sorry I left that out, but the way things have been lately."

Dax speaks, first to Mirtil, saying only "Dax" and sweeping his 
right arm in front of him in an implied, but not executed, bow.

Mirtil says:
"That looks more than moving away than a destruction, don't 
you think? I daresay that the city was maybe reduced to some 
miniature... unbelievable! You said that the lizards, eh, 
sorry Dax, no offence, were running towards the shrinking city? Is 
it possible that they were trying to pick  the miniaturised city 
and carry it away? Can you remember more details, Mac? Anyway, you said 
before that you were able to talk to dead men. Maybe you 
should try to talk this way to somebody you knew from Tix, to learn if 
he lives or not. Or we should try to find other way how to learn if 
the Tix inhabitants are dead or alive... and where the Tix is. Well, 
there is one possibility, but it is risky... so first I would like to 
hear your ideas."

Mac looks to Dax with a puzzled look on his face.

"Dax, before I left, you told me to "wait until after sunset." 
Did you know what was going to happen?"

After Mac's comment, Dax responds:
"Forgive me for not ssspeaking earlier.  The day before we met, 
when I arrived in Tix, one of my brethren sstopped me at the front gate.  He 
ssaid for me to be ssure to leave the city by nightfall of the next day.  He 
offered no details, but implied that the city would fall that night.  That 
the Clan chieftain knew of Tix's fate before any messsenger could have 
reached him from Tix means my Clan mussst have had a hand in it.  Our 
shamans know many powerful earth ssspells..."

Mirtil remarks, "Earth is not my element, but this what Mac described doesn't 
look as if the Earth was involved. Note that the city seemed to be 
affected, not the surrounding Earth."

The looming figure of Kai turns to Mirtil and utters "kai  larsen" before swivelling
his head around to Dax to continue "powerful indeed to have a hand in such an event as this"

Cocking his head at an angle and staring upwards, he goes on 
"the enlargement of the desert and the vanishing of tix are both on a grand scale   
and could both be thought of in terms of elementalism  yet the former has taken 
place over decades while the latter was it seems the work of an instant casting"

"ere you told us this it seemed well within the bounds of 
possibility that which befell tix was the result of a mighty casting gone awry  
yet this foreknowledge of your kin points either complicity or 
prophesy"

"castings of this magnitude are not casually done  they require 
impressive skill and access to what we call umanna far beyond the reach of all 
but the most powerful  or vast bodies of skilled mages working together or 
powerful enchanted wares or perhaps magical creatures" he drones on, ticking off 
items on a list in the tone of a boring college lecturer.

"further it is generally necessary to be within very limited 
range for a casting to succeed although there are ways around this  it makes less 
likely the large grouping as surely a large body of your clan or given the prevailing 
political situation of elvenfolk was involved"

"too it is of interest that the people of tix had some warning 
of the event although their actions seem more appropriate to prophesy than 
the specific warning your clansman gave"

 Mirtil remarks:
"That's unlikely that too much mages were involved.  Consider 
the  increasing difficulty of a spell, growing with number of 
casters working together. For affecting a whole city with hundreds of 
living beings inside an impossible amount of energy is 
necessary - well, to my limited knowledge - and drawing this amount of 
energy from a circle of mages without further support would demand 
such a number of casters, that the casting itself would be 
practically impossible. I expect that some artefact working as a extremely 
powerful powerstone was used to support the mages. And such a 
thing must strongly emanate, so it would be possible to detect 
it." 

"Kai, you mentioned the range. Can you estimate it? Well, the 
easiest would be to cast the spell from _inside_ the city! If 
this is the truth, I doubt that so powerful mages who were surely 
needed for the spell would change their lives for the destruction of 
the city... I know something about fanatics, but mages are usually 
above it. I bet they're all alive somewhere, together with the 
citizens. And the Reptiles must know!"

Kai's head dips a bit and focuses once more on Mirtil 
"knowledgeable indeed you are in the arts  well then most effects as you know 
become more difficult by the yard of range and with a spell of this 
area the difference between touch range and even ten yards is trivial  i 
would guess that touch was indeed used whether at the spell's 
perimeter or within"

"i know little of the dimensions of tix but can work with some 
loose assumptions" he drones "should tix be contained within a two 
mile circle then the energy necessary to cast a minor spell such as 
rain would amount to that of a dozen sorcerers working in coven 
while aught on the magnitude of a great quake would require more on 
the lines of a gross of them"

"to create a powerstone capable of the latter would require a 
solid century of casting the spell once a day but so many castings 
would surely destroy the stone by simple ill chance long ere that 
point was reached"

"e'en an artefact with a stone designed to power only it would 
require half that and just as prohibitive while one powered only by its 
stone would still take a hundred dozen castings to create the stone"

"odds be so great against the success of such an undertaking 
that i cannot imagine any mage undertaking it and would expect at any 
rate an undertaker to be seeing any who did try"

"the more i consider this the more it appears simplest to 
imagine whatever effect was the result of a miscast spell and any foreknowledge 
of it the result of divination rather than planning"

"an alternative i had not considered is however the great wish 
which might be the simplest solution of all"

Mirtil nods.
"I know only little about the Great wish spell, but, can you, 
for example, cast it with wish to remove all the humans from the  
Mironia? Or kill all the humans living here? If the wish is 
unlimited, why somebody did not this long time before? It would 
grant one nearly godlike abilities. Therefore I expect that there 
must be some limits or a high price for casting. So, we must learn 
about those limits and consider whether is possible or not to cause 
the city to disappear, shrink, or whatever happened...
Interesting question is, for example, if the caster of a Wish 
must cast it in the limited range we were speaking before about. And 
if yes, how could one touch a city? I believe it was rather an 
area spell. As another alternative it would be wise to investigate a 
possibility, that other spell was used, say a spell causing 
items to shrink, if some exist, on the whole city. 
But in both cases, I expect that impossible amount of energy 
was needed - given to the Mac's story, it sucked out all mana from 
surrounding area. So, the casters surely used some kind of mana 
focus; I don't think that it was normal powerstone, but 
something much more powerful, and perhaps working on quite different 
principle. To my knowledge, powerstone accumulate mana. In this 
case, the mana was most probably sucked from the area. How can be 
this done? Finally, I believe that we can hear much from the Reptile men 
about this event, so the best possibility would be to ask some of 
them... if they will be willing to tell us something.
Oh, but we are talking and I have a wounded kinsman to care 
for. Please, Mac, would you and possibly some of your friends help 
me to remove the wounded from the mana blocking cell? I can do the 
casting there, but with healing spells one can't be careful enough, 
for a failure can harm the patient..."

Dax intercedes, "I know no Art, but forget not Faith, which our 
shamans wield more powerfully than any reptile mage I have heard of."

Mirtil says with interest:
"And do you think that your shamans would be able to do such a 
think? Have something alike been done before? And what God would 
profit from this spell, or better to say miracle? And why would other Gods 
not interfere? Don't forget that with miracles the God is the final 
arbiter, and he commands, not the priests or shamans...
This leads me to an idea - what if the casters used some 
artefact of divine origin to provide the energy? Something like Ankh? Oh, 
Ankh! I'm forgetting why I am here!"

Beren offers to go fetch the Elf with Mac's assistance and 
keys.  Dax unhitches his crossbow from his belt and silently cocks and loads it, 
then follows Mac and Beren downstairs.