Surrender and Recapture
The Mokers eagerly boarded the boat to take them back to the Bloody Vengeance. When they pulled alongside, the first mate called for them to send up the chest first. They demurred, wondering if this was really Scarbelly痴 intention. But when Scarbelly痴 own head appeared, repeating the command this did not make the party more willing to comply. They feared that the chest was their only bargaining chip and if they lost that, then the pirates would have no compunction in stranding them. Mezezar then threatened to drop the chest into the briny depths. Ten heavy crossbows balanced on the edge of the gunwale in answer to that threat. Ke-tant prepared to strike at the sailors who had rowed them back and Mezezar jumped overboard, holding the chest beneath him in the water while he kept his other hand on the rim or the rowboat. The crossbows loosed and Ke-tant was struck with several bolts. Mera and Obur could only stare in shock. Before Ke-tant could act again, more bolts thudded into him and he fell.
Mera and Obur were warned by Scarbelly not to continue the foolishness of their companions. Since they made no move to attack, Scarbelly then told them to retrieve the mojh and the chest. As the mojh came up from beneath, his first cry was "Never give them the chest" or words to that effect. Despite this, his companions managed to take the chest and give it up to the first mate. They were then disarmed and all of their equipment was removed. One by one, they were taken and bound and put into the hold of the ship. Ke-tant was taken somewhere too. The ship set sail again shortly afterwards.
After some time, Mera asked for a parley with Scarbelly which was agreed to. She could not persuade him to release them with all of their equipment, but he did agree to set them ashore, despite being insulted with her quip of "being tied up like dogs". Two days after they had re-boarded the ship, the Mokers were set down on a beach, Ke-tant still in the leather sack in which he had been held. The first mate directed their attention to some of their equipment that the pirates had left against a small rocky island in the bay. Mera waded out to fetch it and realised that all of the magical items had been removed, along with the coinage. Obur healed Ke-tant, so that he awoke and could stand. The Bloody Vengeance sailed off to the east.
From a bluff to the north, they could see that Khorl lay about ten miles to the north, the spire of Du-Nor made this obvious. They set off in this direction and reached there as evening fell. As they walked through the south gate, one of the watch who was on guard stopped them and summoned a contingent of his fellows to arrest the party. They were brought to a watch post under suspicion of murdering Councillor Verlaine. The Mokers were understandably surprised at this news and protested their innocence. This fell on deaf ears. Luckily for them, Brother Egil arrived shortly thereafter bearing some sort of writ from the Council that allowed the Mokers to be taken off in his company while they awaited trial. Apparently High Priest Thuron was a member of the Council and had some influence. Egil痴 news was not good though. He told the party that Lucius had again been taken and that he needed to be rescued. He implied that the only way of finding out about the cult was to follow the leads that they had discovered about the sewer entrances.
Soon they were slogging along dark and dingy passages while trying to avoid slipping into the muck. Although they were almost stymied by a floor to ceiling grating, the Mokers arrived at the supposed passageway indicated on the map. They found a door in the wall and stepped through into a strange room with a wooden ceiling. When the door shut behind them and would not open even though Egil was on the outside, they were not overly perturbed. When the rocks began to fall from above and the whole room shook with the workings of some mechanism, they became more concerned. However, the floor tipping seemed to trigger some survival instinct in them. Ke-tant led the way in smashing open the door by which they had entered, and soon the party had extricated themselves from the chamber with the help of ropes, nimbleness and strength.
Mezezar was suspicious as to Egil痴 authenticity. Obur scanned the ground for his tracks and led the group back along the passage to another wall. Here they found a door which they managed to open. A dark passage led ahead of them and the Mokers wanted to track down the identity of those who wanted them out of the way.