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[Rolepgeek]

"Watch yourself, then, Galia. I will accept your apology for now, but you no longer have the gold to purchase my services. We are allies of convenience, and should you attempt to influence me in the manner you do your slaves, you will not have very many breaths left to speak your honeyed words."

Dereth had a perfectly serious, and actually mildly intimidating, face on as he said this. It was mostly intimidating in that Galia knew that he told the absolute truth; she had seen him in action before, after all, and he had seen her. They knew the other's capabilities, and considering that Galia had made some attempts back in the old days to see if she could control him, and none had succeeded...yet he was weaker now; they all were. But all the same; the first attempt had ended with the man holding Galia up by the throat; the second had taken her several weeks to recover from after he threw her into a wall and threatened anyone who attempted to heal her. She hadn't tried a third time.

[Tawa]

"F... fair enough."

Admittedly, she had tried to get him to see things her way two or three times, and she was thankful that her undergarments usually covered the scars the second attempt had left on her back. The one time a spell had succeeded, of course, was nothing but a request for a cup of tea she had no intention of getting for herself, which Dereth thankfully had no recollection of. She still had no intention of using any magic on the man, however. She loathed Dereth, and yet, she had a great deal of respect for his dedication and mental fortitude.

Or maybe she just didn't want to be on the bad side of a man who could kill her who was also all but immune to even her strongest spells.

Whatever it was, this uneasy agreement was good enough for her.

"Farewell for now, tuCansari."

Galia runs to catch up with Ganron. She had work to do, and contrary to how this statement is almost always ended, it would be very pretty. Or, at least, she would, in Ganron's soon-to-be-permanently-muddled eyes.

[My Name is Immaterial]

Through out all of this, Bill is seething. This gnome was raising the dead, clearly without their permission. This was sacrilegious to The Ruby Sorceress, making this mage an infidel. There was only one thing to do with infidels.
Bill steps forward, and takes off his glove, holding it in his other hand.
"I will not take of your bread and salt, infidel. You have admitted to creating undead, a crime against Wee Jas. I challenge you to a duel to the death. Just my magic and blade against yours. Neither my nor your friends will intervene, unless you would like to nominate a second."
He throws his glove on the ground, and turns to his companions.
"I must end this threat. Zoe, will you be my second?"
He turns back. "Do you accept?"

[Remuthra]

Harmony takes the opportunity afforded by Bill's proposition of a duel to turn invisible.

[Nerjin]

"Ah!" The gnome back away in fear "What are you t-talking about? Undead? They just haven't eaten!"

"I'll be your second master."

"N-no! I-I-I don't want to die! I didn't do anything wrong! I decline! I decline! Oh... Aha! Aha! You want a game! Of course! Of course! It makes perfect sense! Aha! Aha! Let's play! Let's play!" The gnome began clapping as he glanced around "Hm... A second though... Aha! Aha! I know! I know!" Almost as if on cue a ghoul wearing the tattered remains of a nobles outfit appeared.

"John will be my second! Aha! Aha! What are the rules of the game?"

[My Name is Immaterial]

"It's simple. I try to disarm, disable or well bloody you, and you try to do the same to me. You may also beg pardon, and forfeit the duel. If you are disarmed, disabled or well bloodied, you may call on your second to replace you, the same with me. As the challenged, you may choose our weapon. However, before we begin, we should state our terms. If I defeat you, you shall submit to the justice of this city, and deanimate these undead. What do you desire if you defeat me?"

[Nerjin]

"Aha! Fun fun fun! Hm... If I win you must be my friend forever! As for weapons... Do you know magic? Aha! I know  magic! Aha! Aha! Magic is the weapon of choice if you know any! Aha!"

[Remuthra]

Invisible, Harmony prepares to sneak up to the gnome while he's distracted with the duel and slit his throat.

[My Name is Immaterial]

"Yes, I use magic. However, my second cannot, but we will deal with that as it comes."
Bill flexes his fingers and readies into his battle stance.
"Are you prepared to draw and shed blood?"

[Rolepgeek]

"Hm."

Dereth grunted as he went back to cleaning his sword. Once it was clean of blood and polished just enough to be sure that it still held it's edge well, he considered his next course of action.

He needed to begin dealing with logistics, as none of the others were. That had been Jake's responsibility, much of the time. Jake and the swordsman's. He had a decent amount of gold, but he needed more. The others might be willing to hand over the gold for the purpose to pursue their own pursuits while he took care of things, but the distrust within the group was palpable enough that he couldn't count on it.

What was that information he had collected, earlier? He tried to recall, easing his mind into the practices of meditation and memory work that helped discipline it, and served as useful means of keeping track of events as well...

[Nerjin]

"I don't think his can either... But... A magic duel... I think I'm a little out of my depth."

"So is anyone attempting to duel Master Bill."

"Aha! Aha! We shall have a lot of fun now! Aha!" The Gnome seemed to be thinking of something...

Insane Gnome: 7+2
Bill: 4+2
John the Ghoul: 4+2
Rikki: 2+4
Harmony: 1+5
Plius: 8+0
Zoe: 2+0

Suddenly [4+1] 5 identical gnomes spring up all laughing at their game.

Spoiler: Battlemap (click to show/hide)

R = Rikkimaru
B = Bill
H = Harmony

Z = Zoe
P = Plius

G = Gnome (?)
g = Ghoul

Insane Gnome: Healthy
Bill: 43/43
John the Ghoul: Healthy
Rikki: 29/29
Harmony: 28/28
Plius: 10/10
Zoe: 13/13

Mirror Image (Insane Gnome)
Duration: 5 Rounds
Affected: Insane Gnome

Invisibility (Harmony)
Duration: 5 Rounds
Affected: Harmony

Outside the Catacombs

You try to recall something... It would probably go better if you were more specific on what you wanted to recall. Your mind is still too distracted.

[Nerjin]

Dereth

You categorize your thoughts and recall the following:

Prices
Food: 100% Market. Plentiful. Simple and Martial Only.
Armor: 100% Market. Plentiful. Light, Medium, and Heavy.
Shields: 100% Market. Plentiful. Light, Medium, and Tower.

Crafting Material: 105% Market. Average but decent variety. Nothing exotic.

Food/Drink/Lodging: 100% Market. Decent variety. Nothing exotic.

Horses: 115% Market. Low amount. Poor Variety. Non-War Horses only.

Mercenaries: Not Available at the present time. [Undead Threat is too much]

Rumors
Dereth of the Black Edge: Turned out to be an imposter [perhaps?] who went down without a fight. He had talent. A shame he decided to accept your challenge. You figure he's bled out by now.

Cause of the Undead: Some nutjob claims a vampire to be the cause of the undead. Not impossible, but he was obviously insane.

[My Name is Immaterial]

Spellcraft: What was that spell? Spellcraft DC: 15 + spell level (Probably 17). Roll: d20+14.

Summon Swarm: Bat on F15. See which gnome it goes for, since it has Blindsense.

[Nerjin]

Bill tries to identify the spell [Spellcraft: 1+14] but doesn’t quite know.
Bill casts Summon Swarm (Bats)!
The Bats swarm three of the gnomes.
The First Gnome [1!] is unaffected and simply laughs…
The Second Gnome [13+2] disappears.
The Third gnome [15+2] disappears.
Most of the party simply watches the battle unfold.
The Gnomes fire three magic missiles at Bill! [-3/-1/-4/-1/-4/-1]

”Aha! Aha! Do I win? Do I win? Aha!”

Spoiler: Battlemap (click to show/hide)

R = Rikkimaru
B = Bill
H = Harmony

Z = Zoe
P = Plius
Double Cross Lines = Bat Swarm

G = Insane Gnome
g = Ghoul

Insane Gnome: Healthy
Bill: 29/43
Bat Swarm: 15/15
John the Ghoul: Healthy
Rikki: 29/29
Harmony: 28/28
Plius: 10/10
Zoe: 13/13

Mirror Image (Insane Gnome)
Duration: 4 Rounds
Affected: Insane Gnome

Invisibility (Harmony)
Duration: 4 Rounds
Affected: Harmony

[My Name is Immaterial]

Bill grits his teeth and stays silent. The gnomish bastard hit him hard with that one.
Summon Undead II: Owlbear Skeleton on E-F 15-16. Have it grapple the red gnome.
Spellcraft?: Does Bill know enough about Magic Missile to know the gnome is of a similar level? And does he know how many spells 5/6th level sorcerers get?