Before deciding to leave the sidhe, Dierdre decides it may be best to take some sort of proof of their success back to Gaelyn. She carefully reaches down and removes Bran’s holy symbol from around his severed neck, wrapping it in a cloth. As they head down the hill, Liam stops and decides it may be a good idea to investigate the interior of the sidhe. Cinn Oir returns to the shack behind the pub to gather the horse and their belongings. Dierdre leads the still blind Cian, and they follow Liam at a cautious pace. Liam circles around to the far side where the entrance lies. The short tunnel is empty and a thick curtain still hangs at the far end, blocking any view of what may lie inside. Liam proceeds down the hall and before he reaches the curtain, a spear wielding guard jumps out and attacks. Liam begins to call for his surrender when Dierdre fires two Magic Missiles (Yeah! She can do that now….) driving the guard back behind the curtain. Slightly miffed, Liam strides through the curtain and finishes calling for the guards surrender. Liam is surprised however when another guard steps out from the opposite side of the curtain and takes a jab at him with his spear while the Magic Missile wounded guard does the same. Dierdre rushes forward and fires off a Ray of Frost, again over Liam’s shoulder, but misses her target. Liam engages them with his staff. It is a short fight that ends with both guards beaten senseless.

Liam proceeds into the smooth walled, empty room. There are torches every five feet along the circular walls and a platform against the far wall. Flanking the platform are two curtained hallways. Liam walks toward each, throwing the curtains back with his staff. Each reveals the same, a short hallway with yet another curtain at each end. Slightly frustrated, Liam starts into the left hallway. Immediately on stepping in, he feels a jolt of energy course through his body. Using one of his last healing spells, Liam repairs the damage and continues down the hall. As he reaches the other end, he once again pulls the curtain back with his staff. In front of him lies a small dark room, its walls rounded on one side-the side closest to the outside wall. Against the far wall is an empty stone bier flanked by two heavy chests. Liam starts to enter the room but thinks twice. Fearing another trap (on the door and the chests) and being low on spells, Liam decides it best to leave. He exits the sidhe to regroup with Dierdre and Cian.

Outside, Dierdre has left the entry hall and rejoined Cian amidst the storm. They both note the darkening clouds are beginning to take on a swirling pattern that is steadily coming closer to the ground. As they watch, from the darkness of the cloud, several winged black shapes begin to materialize. Soon, hundreds of ravens are descending on the town. Their black forms dot the roofs of the buildings, and they seem oblivious to the storm. As Liam exits the sidhe, Cinn Oir has returned with the horse and gear. Cautiously, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of ravens, the party begins to head for the edge of town. Aside from the storm, all is quiet. Occasionally they catch a fearful glance from behind shuttered windows, but no one attempts to stop them.

By early next afternoon, the party has reached Tir Gaelyn. As they reach the town wall, they see the gate is closed and there is a larger than usual mass of people waiting for admission. One of the guards out front sees the party and rushes toward them. Within minutes they are escorted through the crowd and into Tir Gaelyn, the gates closing once again behind them. As they walk through the city, they see that the pub common rooms and the market square are teeming with people. Liam asks the guard for any news and the guard mentions that High Clan Tairan has stepped up their counter raids along their border with the Freeman’s Land. The guard says its good for business around town as people take a break from their "occupation".

They are led straight to the inner gate and into the forge building. The guard escorts them up the stairs and directly to Gaelyn’s meeting room at the end of the hall. As the guard opens the door, the party sees that Gaelyn is already seated at his table along the far wall. Aside from the scale mail clad guards, there is also a slightly overweight man dressed in leather armor standing at Gaelyn’s side. The group also notes that the number of guards in the room seems to have been increased since their last meeting. With dramatic flair, Dierdre removes the shrouded holy symbol from her pack and begins to stride toward Gaelyn’s table. Before she is halfway across the room a guard intercepts her. He reaches out his hand and Dierdre passes the bundled symbol to him. Carefully, the guard unwraps and studies the item then turns and places it before Gaelyn. Gaelyn raises an eyebrow and looks back toward the group for an explanation. Dierdre, still wanting to play up their prowess, quickly launches into an entertaining story of the event. Murmurs of approval and shock float through the room from the guards and as she reaches the point when Bran is struck down, there is utter silence. All eyes appear to be nervously on Gaelyn, who is staring intently at Dierdre.

Gaelyn breaks the silence by admitting he is impressed and surprised. He states that he believes the party has definitely compensated him for usurping his authority (attacking his guards in session 11). He then mentions that he perhaps has other errands for them to run, for which they will definitely be well compensated. He asks if the party is interested. Dierdre and Cian agree and Liam does as well, though with a bit of reluctance. Gaelyn seems pleased and tells that party that they should take the day to rest and that they can discuss work tomorrow. Gaelyn then introduces them to the portly fellow standing just his right. His name is Runke, and he is to be their guide around the city. Runke nods and invites them to follow him to the nearest pub for some relaxation. After that, he will show them to a small house Gaelyn has set aside for their comfort. The weary party likes the idea and leaves with Runke for a little R and R.

Runke escorts the party to the Red Hound Pub and Cian remarks on its patronage (from his past experience—see session 12). They sit at a table and Runke heads to the bar, returning with food and drink for everyone; apparently on the house. As Liam begins to eat, he looks up and notices a man seated in a darkened corner tucking something under his shirt. Something that looks very much like a holy symbol, though he is unable to discern exactly which deity. Excusing himself from the table, Liam crosses the room and introduces himself to the man. The stranger looks up at him with a cold expression. The man is rude and obviously uninterested in speaking with him. Liam returns to the party table after only a few attempts to strike up a conversation.

Liam mentions what he saw to the party and Cian perks up. Having been blind for nearly a day now, he has surmised through Spellcraft that one of the only ways to regain his sight may be by clerical means (a cleric of higher level than Liam). Cian anxiously starts to excuse himself when Dierdre offers to speak with the man instead. Grabbing Liam’s ale and her own, Dierdre walks on over to the table and sits down, placing a mug of ale in front of the man. The stranger throws her a very perturbed glance. Being as diplomatic as she can she tries to be friendly and then resorts to a more direct approach. She just flat out says that Liam saw the man’s holy symbol tucked away beneath his cloak. She mentions that they have a friend in need of a skilled cleric. The man snidely remarks that she should know how rude it is to be looking beneath someone’s blouse.

The cleric stands, apparently ready to go but something stops him. Glancing at the party’s table, he spies Runke and the cleric returns to his seat. He now seems very interested and asks Dierdre how well she knows Runke, one of Gaelyn’s men. Within moments, she has him agreeing to assist Cian. The cleric stands and joins the party at their table. Speaking only to Cian, he tells him he can restore his sight but for a price. He says to meet him at his room at Da Derga’s Hostel within an hour. He is to be alone and it will be there that they discuss the terms. Cian agrees and the cleric immediately leaves.

An hour later, the group heads to Da Dergas Hostel. Dierdre tells Runke to see if he can have a hot bath prepared for her and her and Cian sneak off to the stables. There, Cian casts Invisibility on Dierdre and they return to Da Derga’s Hostel. Once there, they rejoin Liam at their table and wait. Not long after, the presumed cleric they met earlier appears at the bottom of the stairs. Liam leads Cian over to him while Dierdre follows as quietly as she can. The cleric leads Cian up the stairs and to a room at the far end of the hostel. Just as Cian is entering the room , he bluffs a trip and catches himself on the door frame; hopefully long enough for Dierdre to sneak in. She is successful and the cleric escorting Cian seems unaware.

The cleric closes the door behind them, locks it, and leads Cian to a small chair. He explains to Cian that if he wants his sight back he has to fully agree to his terms. The cleric tells him that he wishes to gain information about Gaelyn. In essence, he wants Cian to spy on Gaelyn and report to him or his associates. A long battle of words ensues wherein Cian tries desperately to not agree yet still get his sight back. Cian is somewhat worried that there may be some sort of magic binding him to the deal. Finally, he gives in to some degree saying "Sure" to the terms instead of a "simple yes or no."

The cleric begins chanting and soon Cian’s sight is restored. As his vision fades in, he catches a glimpse of the holy symbol around the man’s neck just before he tucks it away: the symbol of a Servant of the Flame of High Clan Steairn. Cian then asks to know how he is to know who is working for the cleric. With a twisted smile, the cleric pulls up his sleeve and begins rubbing his arm. Slowly, a thin covering of disguise make-up begins to wear off and below a tattoo of a red fist is revealed. Cian take sin as much detail as possible and the cleric displays the masterwork tattoo probably longer than he would have if he knew Cian was a tattoo artist…. The cleric then warns Cian that he will remove his sight again, permanently, if the deal isn’t met. Cian turns to leave and as he does he notes the expression on the cleric’s face change slightly. He seems suddenly aware that something is amiss as Dierdre slips invisibly out the door and Cian right behind her.

That night, the party spends at the house which Runke takes them to. It is a modestly well furnished two room dwelling with plenty of room for the party. It is also, as Cian notes, conveniently close to the barracks. Their rest is uninterrupted. Cian takes the time in the morning to study spells and makes sure to pick up a Detect Magic as he wants a closer look at the raven tokens which they took from the bodies of Bran’s men. After he is finished preparing his spells, studies the four tokens. All are indeed magical and a lengthy examination reveals that they are imbued with some sort of Abjuration magic. Runke then offers to appraise the pieces (though Cian doesn’t report their magic properties to him). Runke believes that each will sell for one hundred gold minimum as they are of masterwork quality.

The group plans their morning and with Runke’s help, locates a willing buyer for the tokens. The party decides to sell two to get some cash on hand and they will keep the others to identify later. Runke also helps the group do a little shopping. Dierdre purchases a set of picks and a set of trapmaking tools of average quality. Liam secures one week’s worth of rations for each party member and checks on his horse. Meanwhile, Cian keeps an eye out for his new "friend". By early afternoon, Gaelyn is ready to see them, and they head off toward the forge with Runke in the lead.

When they reach the meeting room, Gaelyn is no where in sight. Instead, Ainfean, the chain wielding lieutenant, is leaning on the table swinging her chain. She dismisses any of the party member’s requests to speak to Gaelyn, saying he is busy and she is there to deliver his message. The hostility in the room is stifling. Snide remarks fly from Liam and Dierdre as Ainfean very curtly delivers their next mission. She says each of them will be paid 500 gold to put an end to the latest Tairan counter-raid group. She says that while in the short term, the raids are good for town business, in the long term, it puts their patrons out of work so to speak. This is obviously bad for town business. She tells them that the counter raid group is composed of a few of the local King’s men and mostly village rabble from the highlands. Cian interrupts and roughly says "no problem, we’ll just rough them up and send them packing." Ainfean however makes his statement seem harmless. In an ominous tone she says that "there are to be no survivors". Another round of quarrelling erupts with Ainfean demanding to know if the party accepts the mission and then venomously begging them to say "No".

They uneasily agree and leave with Runke, who is to escort them to the eastern border of the bog…..