The party had treked back to Tallo. During the trip they discussed their options. Jay felt guilty and thought it might be possible for to pull some strings, but she said it would cost her politically.

Vernon had identified both rings: one was a mundane ring of free action, and the other a true ring of resistance. While the party knew the ring of free action would be a useful item (for example, it would have prevented Blink's death), two raise deads was going to be expensive, and they hoped to work a deal with the temple using the ring. In the end, they traded in the ring for two resses and got back about 6000 gold to cover the difference.

Mortenser had also sent some disturbing news through the book. He said it was possible Klaus was still alive, and that if the party even heard of Klaus being close to them, they should contact him and leave as fast as they could.

Almost as soon as they arrived in Tallo, Jay had introduced Myriam as an investigator, and asked the party to answer any of her questions. Myriam had asked many questions, concentrating on the monk, but also included other odd questions such has how they were coping with the death and raising of the party members.

Malif spent this time to scribe cat's grace, haste, and bull's strength. The party had also discussed their strategy for the upcoming tournament in Ashanto and decided these spells might mean the difference between winning and losing. Since he had extra time, he also crafted a mundane wand of mage armor, as well as enchanting Vaugner and his bows to be magical.

Jay asked the party to her planning room after lunch. In the room with her was Myriam. Myriam said, "I've been keeping a secret from you. Have any of you figured out who I really am?"

The party shook their heads as no one knew, and she continued, "As smart as you guys are, I thought there was a good chance someone would have figured it out. I'm sorry for the subterfuge, but I wanted to walk through these halls without drawing attention to myself."

She concentrated a moment, and her image shimmered. Without the veil, it was clear this was Tera.

"I came for two reasons. The first was I wanted to make sure you guys were mentally okay. Death and being raised is often traumatic, and sometimes leads to complications. You guys are young, though, and seem to have pulled through with few mental scars.

"The second reason is that we've been trying to track Burton for a while now, but he's always managed to elude us. The monk he was with, however, has left a trail, and I've been following it for the past week.

"By use of various spells and thanks to your help with his physical description, his mannerisms and fighting style, and his accent, I've been able to track down who the monk is. His name is Vestor and he's been working with Burton for a few months now.

"They've set up a new operation around Bramble and have been recruiting for more warriors. I thought you might be interested to know that it is my intention to go pay them a visit. Mortenser has been covering for me in Pavalar, but I can ask him to come along to take care of the trash while I deal with Burton, but I thought I'd invite you along instead in case you were interested."

"Revenge!" Kestrel cried, and Malif started grinning devilishly.

Errol, however, was not as excited. "I don't see how going after them is going to help anything! Right now they think that we're a non-threat. Why should we do anything to change this perception?"

A debate broke out but eventualy Errol was convinced to come along. A deal was struck: the party could keep any items found on anyone but Burton -- any item Burton had Tera would need. Tera said, "Good, I'm glad guys are up to it. They have a meeting planned for tomorrow night in a barn outside Bramble, and I think that would be a good ambush point. Normally, I wouldn't approve of such drastic action, but Burton has proven to be dangerous enough that I think it's necessary. Let's meet again tomorrow; I will have various buff spells for you which will help you take care of the riff-raff."

July 1

The party met up with Tera after dinner. She was again illusioned as a human.

"So this is what I can see. They are in a large barn. The back half of the barn are stalls with horses in it. There are four warriors in one corner playing cards. Vestor is in the center with what looks like 8 or so new recruits, sitting on benches listening to him. Two fighters, who look more experienced, guard the near entrance. There is another door at the back end of the barn where the horses are.

"I can't be sure where Burton is because he has some device which makes him undetectable. However, from listening to Vestor, I know he's in the room. Are we ready for spells?"

Tera cast stoneskin on both Kestrel and Blink, and heroism on Kestrel. She knew that the monk had high damage output and she didn't want to take any chances. She also cast haste on the party as well as mass cat's grace and mass bear's endurance. She also cast telepathic bond on the party so they would be able to communicate better. Unfortunately she could only affect five of the members, so Vaugner was selected to be the odd man out.

"We'll be teleporting into the corner. There may be a moment of disorientation, but they should be surprised too so hopefully it will all even out. Hang on, here we go!"

They arrived without a mishap. The scene was as Tera had depicted. Immediately they saw Burton in the far corner. He was, as usual, covered in a black overcloak. Tera acted first and a green ray burst forth from her outstretched hand as he hit Burton with a dimensional anchor. Burton was next to act. He parted his overcloak revealing a necklace. The necklace flared and the green field covering him dissipated. Vester tumbled to Kestrel and struck at him while the seated people all stood up. The four warriors playing cards were obviously experienced, and moved forward while they drew their weapons. The warriors on the benches showed their inexperience by fumbling with their weapons.

Vaugner took three shots and slew three of those warriors. Blink, who had materialized next to one of the fighters, sparred with him, while Kestrel attacked Vestor. Vernon was boxed in and could take no action, and Errol started playing his drums. Malif took in the situation and aimed a web into the corner of the room where the card game was. By his calculations, he could hit six of the enemy while avoiding catching any party members.

The web hit on target, and most were entangled. Two of the fighters managed to avoid being entangled but were still surrounded by the web.

Tera then casting a spell and then shouted "Shikara" as she finished power word: stun. Her plan was foiled, though, as the spell fizzled before reaching him. "I think he has spell resistance," she shouted.

Burton again concentrated on the necklace, and the web was dispelled. Vestor again hit Kestrel, but his flurry of blows was mostly being absorbed by the stoneskin, and Kestrel hit Vestor, but knew that Vestor wouldn't be easy to take down. Vaugner killed another two rookie fighters, and Malif again webbed the area. Blink hit his opponent with both fists, and expected him to go down shortly. Vernon, who had been unable to cast enlarge person last round becase everyone was hemmed in, now cast the spell on Kestrel. The remaining fighters on the benches charged Tera but missed. Errol moved up to dispose of them.

Tera pondered what to do for a second and then seemed to make up her mind. A thin green ray sprang forth from her fingers again aimed at Burton. This too, however, failed to penetrate Burton's spell resistance. Several party members stood in slight shock as they realized the spell was disintigrate, a spell they had all heard of but never seen firsthand.

Burton again dispelled the web, and Malif half whispered to the rest of the party, "Well that's annoying but if wants to keep occupying his time with dispelling my webs, I don't mind."

Blink downed his opponent. Vestor and Kestrel continued to trade blows. Vaugner finished off the enemies around Tera, and Malif cast yet another web while Vernon moved forward to make sure he could cover the entire party.

Tera cast another spell, which the party recognized as fire storm, at Burton. This one also managed to get through Burton's spell resistance, and Burton was horridly burnt by the spell. However, the spell was not powerful enough to kill him. He tumbled to Vestor and mumbled something as he grabbed the monk. Instantly they disappeared.

Tera cast a spell as the party kept after the remaining enemies. Tera said, "Found them! I'm going after them, if you want to come, all link hands with me."

Seconds later they dimension doored to a clearing. Burton was kneeling and catching his breath, while Vestor was standing but binding a wound. Turning towards them, Burton let out a weak laugh.

Tera said, "Deal with the monk, I'll take care of Burton," she said. With all six party members on the monk, he fell quickly. Burton looked at the party and then started laughing maniacally. A ray burst forth from the necklace and hit Tera for a small amount of damage. Tera responded with a spell none of the party members could identify. Burton seemed to shrug off the worst of it but still seemed to damage him.

Burton again shot another ray at Tera, doing minimal damage. Several party members attacked Burton but missed as Burton was hard to hit. Malif hit him with a magic missle and then Kestrel managed to get past Burton's guard to score a hit which killed him outright.

Vernon quickly came up and stabalized Vestor while keeping him unconscious. Tera also came up and quickly took the necklace from Burton. Vernon went to check Burton but he was dead.

"So this is a gem of power," Tera said. "This is the first time I've had my hands on one."

"Can I see it?" Malif asked. She handed it over; as soon as Malif touched it, he could feel the magical energy emenating from it. Interestingly though, when looked at through the magical lens, it did not register as magical.

The party experimented a bit more with the gem. Malif said a silent wish that bind not affect him like it did other people. Vernon tried to raise Vestor from the dead. Eventually the discovered that the gem and the setting could be seperated. When this happened, the gem continued to register as non-magical, but the setting registered magical.

Also, the gem seemed to grant the wearer the power of true sight when worn, as well as prevented the wearer from being scryed.

"Where are we?" Errol asked.

"Just a few hundred feet away from the barn. We should be able to walk back from here," Tera replied.

When the party returned to the barn, the fighters trapped in the web had broken free and ran away. Malif dissipated the web and the party took stock of the situation. The dead fighters still had their chain shirts on, but nothing else of value was found. Vestor carried a magical cloak which Tera identified for them as a minor cloak of resistance. Burton carried a magical sword and the gem, which Tera collected.

The farm next to the barn had been deserted. It was unclear whether the owner was part of Burton's troops or was away or had met foul play. Regardless, the party decided that if it was still deserted in the morning, they would take the six horses to town and sell them.

"If the sword is just a normal magical sword, you can have that as well, but I'll need to do some tests on it. You have two options now, I can either teleport you back to Tallo and you can head to Ashanto from there, or you can stay here and I can come back tomorrow with your mounts and you can head there from here. In any event, I need to head back so I can run some tests on Burton and his equipment," she said.

"What about Tidus?!?" Errol sxclaimed.

After reassuring Errol that she could arrange for Tidus to be brought as well, the party decided to stay in the barn and have Tera come back the next day. As Tera teleported away with the dead Burton and unconscious Vestor, the party set up a watch for the night.

July 2

Tera reappeared early in the morning with Tidus and their horses.

"The sword is just a normal magical sword, and I have no need of it. Feel free to use it or sell it as you see fit. I've just started on the tests on the gem; it will be a while before anything concrete forms. Vestor has been turned over to the council... he may or may not be able to provide information."

With that she thanked them for their help and wished them well in Ashanto. The party asked if she had any tips for the events, and Tera gave her what insights she had.

After that, Tera teleported away while the party headed to Bramble to sell the horses and then head to Ashanto.