The sunrise peeked through the crack at the bottom of the door to the Diamond Pickaxe, and all was quiet. A few Dwarves lay against one of the long tables, sleeping soundly in a pool of dwarven ale that ebbed from an upset pitcher. Empty tankards were scattered across the floor along with bits of bread, chicken bones, and a scattering of copper and silver coins that never quite made their way into the barkeep's tip jar. The barkeep threw water into the stove and the resulting sizzle awoke Jaref Thoran from his nap. At his feet was his skeleton friend Suldio, who was quiet within his burlap sack. The barkeep turned as Jaref stirred and tried to remember the details of where he was and why. "Alright pal," grumbled the barkeep, who was half drenched in ale and whose once tidy black hair was now standing almost completely upright, "The party's over. Get on home." "I can't do that," Jaref said quietly as he stood up. "What?" the barkeep looked fairly annoyed as he grabbed an iron pan from the stove, "Look, piss off or I'll have to crack your skull." "Sorry," Jaref said as he picked the burlap sack off of the ground, "But I promise you that if you stay out of our way you won't be hurt." "Listen, fool," snarled the barkeep as he crossed from behind the bar, gripping the pan in both of his pale hands, "I'm in no mood for bad comedy tonight, right? So get the hell out of here!" Jaref said nothing as he turned the sack upside-down, alowing its contents to spill onto the wooden floor. Suldio's bones clanked against the ground and scattered before the barkeep, his skull rolling out last and scowling at him. "What the--?" the barkeep took a moment to look down at the bones with suprise, then up at Jaref with anger, "Is that supposed to scare me off or something?" "No," Suldio's skull said as it ajoined with the rest of his bones and emerged from the floor and stood upright, "But I'm sure this might, hmm?" "Gah!" the barkeep let out a squeal and the pan fell to the floor with a clang that nearly jarred Jaref's molars. The barkeeps pale complexion drained of any remaining color as he staggered back, his eyes bugging out of his head. A pool of urine began to form under him. "Oh that's disgusting," yawned Jaref as he hopped over the bar, "Hold him, will you, while I try to get these boards free." "Excuse me, sir," Suldio said as he grabbed the man's wrists and forced him to sit down on a chair, "You wouldn't happen to have a crowbar we could use, would you?" "B-buh bnobba nobba!" stammered the barkeep. "Is that a no?" Suldio turned his head toward Jaref, who was pacing about behind the bar, "I think it's directly in front of that bottle of dragonsfire." Jaref took his dagger from his belt and wedged it between the boards underneith the racks of liquor. He grunted as the board popped out of the floor, revealing a dark crawlspace between the floor and the ground. One of the dwarves stirred and looked up at Suldio with squinted eyes. "You're having a bad dream," Suldio said, "You ought to go back to sleep." "Aye," groaned the dwarf as he rolled over and closed his eyes, his face pressed against ale-soaked floorboards. "How far down is it?" asked Jaref. "Not far," replied Suldio, who was busy trying to keep his prisoner still. Jaref leaned down onto all fours and reached down into the crawlspace with his dagger, poking at the dirt below him. He dug down as far as his dagger would reach until it scratched against something hard. "Ouch!" yelped Suldio as he wheeled around to look at Jaref, "That's it! I felt that!" In his excitement he released his prisoner and rushed toward the hole in the floor. The barkeep quickly scurried out the door. "Oh hell, you idiot!" Jaref quickly pulled himself upright and ran toward the open door. He paused at the doorway for a moment, then turned back to Suldio. His skeleton companion was busy pulling a small toe bone from the dirt below him, quietly giggling with glee. "It's been... soooo long!" Suldio continued to giggle madly as he sat upright and placed the missing toe into its place on his foot. "Ahhhhhhhh that feels much better." "He got away," snapped Jaref, who grabbed the burlap sack and threw it at Suldio, "Get in. We've got about 15 seconds to get out of here before that fellow brings back half the town." "Can't I walk around a bit on it first?" mooned Suldio as he admired his complete foot. "Get in the bloody bag, you freak, or I'm leaving you here!" Suldio sighed and disassembled hismelf. He rolled all of his bones into the burlap sack. Jaref hopped over the bartop. He grabbed a full bottle of rockscotch and tossed it into the sack as well as a handfull of coins from the till before charging out the back door. He ran into the woods toward Mysthaven.
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