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It is easy enough to recognize the seven men once Herman and Avery reach the top. As soon as you are up, unless somehow prevented from doing so, one of the men draws your rope up after you.

Samash the Wolf bows mockingly.

"We meet again, me boyos, and this time the advantage is clearly mine. How, then, shall we parley?" He turns to Avery. "Man of Peace, we hold you no ill will. Parley for your brethren below, or leave freely and of your own will, as you wish." Turning again to Hermann, the Wolf adds, "But a coin-price we were promised, and a coin-price we shall have, ere another of your lot climbs up the hole we made, or uses the rig we devised." He pats the tripod. "Find another way out of the maze, if you like, for I am prepared to await you here till the final trumpet blows and red Chaos covers all the land."

Samash the Wolf draws his blade.

"If you have nothing to say, my boyo, I'll have thee back down in the hole, for none cross my pack and live. Priest-man, you had best go before things turn grim."

(Sorry RC, been working a ton and haven't had a minute to sit down with this. I will post tonight, promise.)

Herman remains tight-lipped, but Avery puts his hands up.

"Samash, I cannot leave my companions. We are sorely wounded, and we've lost the Scorpion Lord and the other man who originally offended you. We can pay you buy little. All we've found has been death, and undeath." Avery sighs. "We can give you goods we carried down with us, or my holy brother and I can perform boons, Ulesh willing, to pay your toll. We seek no battle with you."

Herman perks up a bit, says: "I think we found the remains of one of your boys down in the pits. We can tell ye where, so to retrieve him, if you want. Kept those devilish big rats off his corpse, at least."

jferngler wrote:(Sorry RC, been working a ton and haven't had a minute to sit down with this. I will post tonight, promise.)

Don't worry; that was a "reminder" post. I try to have something happen if there is a long gap between posts, even if it is just someone scratching his ear, to bring the thread back to mind.

One of the other men laughs, a nasty sound. "Burying the dead doesn't put ale in the bellies of the living," he says.

"Aye, nor buy company to warm their beds in the night," mutters another.

Samash the Wolf spreads his hands in a gesture of surrender. "You see, my boyos, sympathetic as I may be for your losses -- though your Scorpion Shield seems no great loss to me, for I have scant love for those who would hold themselves above men such as we -- I needs must look to my own men. And my own men will be placated by coin alone, or by that which can be sold for coin. Tis true that we be a red brotherhood. Were it not for my being here, these men would surely be looting your corpses even now, but I remember some of you boyos spoke fair enough when first we met." He grins, and adds, "And I have a kindly nature."

"Then we'll scrounge coin to pay our way," Avery says, even as Herman crouches beside the hole to call down their need to the others below. "Ten gold enough for your lot?"

Samash spreads his hands in mock-generosity.

"What shall be must needs suffice," he says. "And a pleasure doing business with such reasonable men. When your coin is ready, we can lower a rope to haul it up. Then we'll throw your grapple down, and let you back down to those friends of yours on our rope. By the time you are back up here, we shall be long departed."

Avery spits in his hand and holds it out to the bandit. "Deal," he says.

Samash offers the spit-sodden hand a wary eye, then grins and clasps it with his own leathery hand.

The wizard and the cleric hustle back down the rope, secure ten gold in a shirt tied to the end of the rope. "Alright, Samash," Avery calls.

One of the men pulls up the rope.

After a minute, Samash calls down: "You boyos have leave to use my hole and my tackle, then, and may we meet again with kind words."

Another minute or so passes, and then your grapple and rope are tossed down in a coil.

(I am digging the NPCs in this a lot.)

The party tosses up the grapple again (unless I'm misreading and the tackle rope is down too). Girt ties the end of the rope to Giant, and then he hauls himself up the rope, Avery and Herman following. Then the others follow. Giant comes up last, of course. Before they head for the entryway to the Barrowmaze, the tackle rope is coiled neatly at the top of the hole, and the party's rope and grapple go back into a pack.

By the time you ascend, the other group has departed. Luckily, there are no creatures lurking nearby, so you may return to the village without difficulty.

To the village, then!