"I said TALK!" Onestar barked, as he struck the neogi with the pommel of his katana. The neogi was chained to the floor of the Wanderer's detention room, and three guards were ready to kill it if it caused any trouble. The other neogi was in an adjacent cell, bound, gagged, and heavily guarded.
The neogi shook his head drunkenly and looked back at Onestar. Onestar, Illeria, and Armas were looking down at the loathsome creature.
"Tell you nothing will I. Prefer death I would," it hissed.
"That can be arranged," Onestar added. "Now, either you tell me where my first officer is, or I'll turn you into rat food, and you will be awake for it!"
The neogi paused before answering: "To Krynn, to sell as slave they take him."
Onestar looked at Armas, who was staring blankly at the opposite wall. A few seconds later the priest looked at Onestar.
"It's lying," the priest said.
Onestar lifted his katana and brought it down at the neogi. In a split second, one of the creature's insect-like legs lay lifeless on the floor. The neogi was shrieking in pain.
"Killing me you are! Dead I can not talk!"
"Onestar!" a voice called.
"Keep trying," Onestar said to Illeria, as the woman extended her hand in a threatening position. Onestar entered the corridor where he was greeted by Pascal.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You're wasting your time with them," the arcane said. "I can tell you where they have taken Hall."
Pascal opened a scroll to reveal a partial map of Krynnspace. The Stellar Islands were at the lower end, the spherewall at the other. Several points were marked on the map, but the arcane pointed to one spot in particular.
"We found this map on the mindspider, along with several other notes and logs. This is where they came from," the arcane explained.
"This indicates a neogi base of some kind?"
"Not exactly. These appear to be pirates, the same ones who attacked Brein back on Spectre. They are not associated with the Neogi Alliance."
"Free agents, eh?" Onestar looked at the map again. "What is this point?"
"It's an abandoned dwarven citadel. It's been floating around this region since the cataclysm."
"Apparently it isn't abandoned anymore. Finish demolishing that mindspider and lay in a course for the citadel."
"With pleasure."
The arcane stepped away as Onestar returned to the detention room. The neogi still hadn't talked, and Illeria was visibly flustered. Onestar knelt down and gave the neogi a hard look.
"I know you are not part of the Alliance," he said, "and that you are pirates. I also know that you are using an abandoned dwarven citadel as a base, and that you are working with elves. Would you care to fill in any details?"
"Details pointless," the neogi said with a sly grin. "Pirate elves bring us good business. They kill ships, take treasure, give us slave meat. We sell or eat slave meat, bring much money, everyone happy."
"Then why did you capture only my first officer?"
The neogi looked down in disgust.
"Leader on personal war."
A personal vendetta, Onestar thought. Now things made sense. A pack of pirates awaits our entry into the sphere, ambush us, take Hall, and try to escape.
"Who is this leader of yours?"
"Jamian elf."
Onestar nodded and turned to the guards.
"Lock this thing up for now. We may be able to use these two neogi for ransom. Just make sure they are bound, gagged, and *separated* at all times."
"Aye sir," the guards said.
Meanwhile, the Eternal Wanderer changed course for the abandoned citadel. It would take two days to get there. The crew only hoped that they would still have time to save Hall.
Hall woke up in a cold, but well-furnished room. We was still week, but at least he could stand again. He was no longer wearing his armor, but he did notice a set of clean cloths hanging on the door. He saw a window that was bared with ornate, wrought-iron bars. He looked out the window and saw only black space. Below the window was a sheer stone wall that appeared to end abruptly about 400 feet below.
I must be on a citadel, Hall thought. He didn't know much about stonemasonry, but he recognized some trademarks of drawven architecture: the low ceilings, the fancy windows, the ornate carvings on the ceiling. The furniture in the room looked elven, however.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door:
"Your host would like to give you a tour of the facility," a voice said.
"Tell my host to go to Gehenna!" Hall responded.
"Put on the cloths we provided, then meet Mr. Jamian on the side terrace. It's just down the hall," the voice continued, ignoring Hall's sharp remark.
"Where am I?" Hall demanded.
"The guest chambers," the voice answered, as it walked away.
Thanks a lot, Hall thought. Well, perhaps if I know more about this place I can get off, or somehow get a signal to Onestar and the others.
Hall put on the cloths that Jamian had provided and cautiously entered the corridor. A giff greeted him as he emerged.
"This way, Mr. Dargess," the giff thundered. The guard carried a huge pistol in one hand, and it was cocked and ready to fire. Tricking this guard would require more strength than he had at the moment. After a few moments, Hall and the giff arrived at the terrace, where Jamian stood, looking out over the landing dock of the citadel. Two man-o-war, a mindspider, and a lamprey ship were visible.
Jamian turned around and gave Hall an evil smile.
"Quite an operation I have here, don't you think?" he asked.
"Quite," Hall answered, belaying no emotion at all.
"I used to work for the Elven navy, but as I'm sure you recall the navy isn't very active in Solaris. So, I transferred here. It was fun for a while. You know, ruthlessly killing pirates and humanoids all the time, but even that got boring."
"So you decided to try the other side of the law, no?" Hall asked quietly.
"Indeed, and I'll tell you I've done quite well for myself, unlike you."
Hall's expression didn't change. Jamian came closer to Hall and gave him a hard, evil look.
"While you and your do-nothing friends were helping those stupid dwarves in Ostrowith, I was out here making good for myself! I have enough gold on this citadel to last me a thousand years."
"How did you come across this?"
"How else, by pirating! Honestly Hall, you can be so stupid some times. If you must know the details, I led a mutiny on the elven ship I was on. I netted two ships, eventually hired some neogi thugs, stole another ship, took over this old hulk, and now I'm quite comfortable. You may enjoy the fame you have as a scholar, but I like the money I make as a pirate."
"If the navy ever catches you or learns about..."
"They won't. Besides, my former captain knows all about my actions. I've told him several times."
Hall was truly confused.
"In fact," Jamian added, "there he is now." Jamian pointed to a statue that was in a recess in the wall. It was clearly an elf, in a combat position, with a look of fear on his face.
"You... petrified him?"
"I sure did, by using a special wand I have. Actually he isn't petrified in the classic sense. You see, his body is stone, but his mind is still active. He can see and hear us, but he can't do anything."
"You trapped him into a living hell?!?" Hall asked, horrified.
"Yup. I love doing it!" Jamian laughed hard for a moment. "In fact, I have lots of prisoners in this state. It's much easier to take care of them this way. I don't have to feed them, or worry about their air use. They are perfectly preserved, and all I need to do is use this to free them."
Jamian held a small wand.
"Come, I'll show you the rest of my former ship mates!" Jamian laughed as the two headed down a corridor filled with statues. Most of them were elven, but a few other races were present as well. In Hall's weakened state he was ready to collapse from the horror of what he was seeing. These beings were conscious, and alive, yet trapped in a stone prison! Only Jamian could be so cruel. When he and Hall were children, back on Cartania, Jamian was the one who used to arrange robberies and murders, not for personal gain, but because he enjoyed it. One of the places he destroyed was the shop of a man name Garadin Dargess: Hall's father. Jamian murdered Hall's father, raped his mother, then killed her as well. Shortly after, Hall tried to stop Jamian once and for all. Sadly, Jamian's sister was accidently killed during the struggle that followed. Jamian escaped, but swore he would kill Hall one day for allowing his sister to die. It didn't make sense, but with Jamian, nothing ever did.
When the "tour" was over, Jamian led Hall to his personal study. There were two more statues in a dark alcove.
"You understand Hall, that I plan to kill you," he said calmly, "but I want to hold on to you for a day or two, drugged of course. I like that ship you and your captain are using right now, so I'm going to get it. You will have the pleasure of watching your crew be turned into stone, and thrown into wildspace. But for now, I have one last statue to show you."
Jamian lit a candle and walked over to the alcove. He placed it on the floor in front of one of the statues.
"I don't know what you find so special about her," Jamian said. "I found her rather disappointing, especially in bed." At that the elf walked out, locking the door behind him. Hall wanted to pursue him, and beat him to a pulp, but he was so shocked at what he saw that he couldn't move.
The statue was of a half-elven woman with shoulder length hair. Her clothes were tattered, almost like rags, and there was a shattered look on her face. Hall stumbled over to the statue and knelt before it. He was so overcome with anger that he was crying.
"I know you can hear and see me," he said, fighting back tears. "Somehow I'll get you out of this!"
Hall dropped his face into his hands and continued to cry. Belieth the Benign was overjoyed to see her husband again at long last, but overcome with grief that she couldn't tell him.
