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."Look, now that we're safely away, I’ve got to speak with you," the stranger said.Whitlock gritted his teeth through the pain as Melann lifted the lower portion of his hauberk and pulled the blood-stained cloth away from his leg."Who are you?" she asked the stranger as she worked."My name is Vheod Runechild," he replied."I am Melann Brandish, and this is my brother Whitlock.""What are you doing out here?" Whitlock asked through teeth clenched in pain."Looking for you," Vheod stated."What?"' Whitlock started in surprise, then again in pain as his movements put his leg in a bad position."What do you mean?" Melann asked Vheod, turning away from Whitlock for the moment."I came here looking for you, to warn you that you are about to do something… terrible." Vheod stood over the two of them, a few steps away."What thing?" Whitlock asked, his voice raising in volume, his brow furrowed."What are you talking about? How do you know anything about us?""You intend to free the tanar’ri Chare'en from his prison." Vheod said."What?" Whitlock said."What are you talking about?""Just as I've said you're about to release a terrible evil into the world.""No, we're not," Whitlock said quickly."Our business is our own.Besides, isn't tanar'ri just another word for demon? If anyone's going to have anything to do with a demon, it's probably you.You look like you're probably a demon yourself.Come to think of it, what did you do back there to frighten all the gnolls away?" Whitlock grimaced from the pain."Just a moment," Melann implored, and called on Chauntea to grant her the ability to heal her brother's wound.When she was finished, she urged Whitlock to lean back and rest easy for a moment."I’ll talk to him," she whispered to her brother.Whitlock grimaced.He was worried that the gnolls might come back.In fact, he really didn't understand why they ran away in the first place.The twosome-or rather, the threesome-had slain a fair number, but the gnolls had seemed certain of victory.Somehow, the dark-skinned stranger forced them to flee.The thought didn't comfort Whitlock, it fueled his suspicions.Melann got up and moved to Vheod, motioning with her hand that they should walk a few steps away."Please, sir-" she began."Vheod," he corrected.Whitlock strained to hear them as he lay on the ground and watched.He could feel the divine energy knitting his wounds together, but he ignored it in favor of the conversation being held."All right," she said with a gentle smile, "Vheod, could you please tell me what all this is about?""I’ve told you what I know-what you need to know." Vheod shook his head."Are you or are you not going to free Chare'en?""Free him?" Melann asked, her face showing confusion."He's dead."Vheod paused.He cocked his head and stared into the sky through narrow eyes.Whitlock studied this strange man.His breastplate was forged from some black metal covered in bizarre barbs and spikes.It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.The stranger had surprisingly long, reddish hair and a dark, weathered look to his skin.His features were gaunt and pointed-his appearance didn't suggest the kind of warrior Whitlock had seen in the fight earlier.Something about him, Whitlock thought, made him appear different-almost detached from the world around him.Vheod said, "When I spoke to Orrag-" "Oh, you know that misbegotten half-orc?" Whitlock called out from behind them."Well, that at least explains something." It confirmed his suspicions that Vheod wasn't to be trusted after all.Vheod turned to look at Whitlock and said, "I spoke to him briefly while I was looking for you.He indicated you might think Chare'en is a long dead wizard.I can tell you you're wrong about that.I don't know why you believe it, but you're wrong.He's an imprisoned tanar'ri, and if you go to where he waits you'll risk freeing him.""How did you know to look for us!" Melann asked.Vheod turned back to her."I spoke to these two men-priests, I believe.They showed me your image in a magical pool and revealed to me that you were going to free Chare'en
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