What Tyranthraxus could never hope to achieve in his own plane, where he was merely a minor entity among giants, was finally within his grasp here on this plane of weak mortal minds. He already controlled the actions of a legion of creatures within his telepathic reach. By corrupting the Pool of Radiance, a magical body of water that had been created by the goddess Selune to purify her followers before arcane rites, and expanding its powers with the enhancing forces of a perfect hexagon of ioun stones, Tyranthraxus had found the means of becoming the supreme ruling being of an entire plane.

Each drop of blood added to the pool gave Tyranthraxus new life energy. Each ioun stone added a measure of power to his own. For years he had researched the magical gemstones' power, and he knew that the hexagon was the ultimate figure of control. With six stones, lined up perfectly, and his tremendous mental capacity, he would control the actions of every creature on this plane, and with the power of the pool, he would do it forever…

" 'By proclamation of the Honorable First Councilman of the City of Phlan, Porphorys Cadorna is hereby declared Second Councilman.' "

Cadorna bowed graciously before the First Councilman, members of the council, and the audience of onlookers assembled in the public chambers. An encampment of gnolls had been ousted from the uncivilized portion of the city, freeing up the old Cadorna property. Cadorna had immediately acted in the council's name to employ the Black Watch, a band of exceptionally efficient mercenaries, to storm the adjacent library and slums and reclaim those properties for Civilized Phlan. At the same time, an unprecedented donation had been made to the Tyrian Temple in Cadorna's name. Finally, a large number of coins had changed hands to ensure Cadorna's ascension to the second most powerful position on the council. "Your honors, people of Phlan…" he began. "I thank you for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility. I will, as before, work unrelentingly for the betterment and expansion of our fair city."

Cadorna descended from the dais, shook all the proper hands, smiled all the right smiles, spoke all the proper words-then slipped away to his private chambers, where Gensor was waiting.

The councilman whisked past the mage and turned around to face him as he spoke. "You believe the three have kept something from me?"

"Whether or not it is some part of your treasure they hide, I cannot say." The mage lowered his hood as he approached Cadorna and looked straight into the councilman's eyes. "But the bigger man, the one called Ren, no longer radiated the magic he once did, and I saw him make contact with the woman when they were unloading their goods on the table. I saw nothing pass between them, but he is very smooth, and her magic is strong. They may well have made an exchange, or he may have passed something to her for safekeeping."

"Scoundrels! Lying thieves! I'll-What are you laughing at?"

The mage snorted and then laughed again, awheezing, hissing snicker. "Surely, Councilman, you've heard of the turtle calling the tortoise hard-shelled?"

"Ingrate! There'll be a day when you wish-"

"Wish what? That I'd treated you better? Councilman, you and I both know this relationship will end the day it doesn't serve one of us. In the meantime, let meremind you that I did contract the Black Watch as you requested, and they have completed their first assignment."

"Yes… the mercenaries did well with the recovery of the gnoll embattlement. But what of the second task?" Cadorna clenched and unclenched his hands, eager for the news that would confirm his ascension to the position of First Councilman.

Gensor grinned, his ashen lips pulling so thin they almost disappeared. "Everything is in place for them to take over as guards of the city. Per your instructions-" Gensor stopped when he saw a mix of fury and terror rise in Cadorna's eyes. "Per my instructions," Gensor corrected, "they have prepared an orcish arrow for the First Councilman. I saw it myself. Everyone will assume the murderer is an assassin from outside the walls. Your plan is a good one."

Cadorna nodded his acknowledgment. "I thought so…" For a moment, his eyes gleamed in anticipation, and then they darkened. "But what of the treasure taken by those three? Can you recover it for me? Are you mage enough to acquire the stolen items from that hulking woman?"

"Brawn is not common to magic-users, I'll admit, but don't assume that our skill grows in proportion to our frailty. I wouldn't choose to go one-on-one against her…"

"You mean you won't do it?" Cadorna fairly snarled the words.

"I will. I'll use my full resources to try to recover your treasure. I meant only that I wouldn't go looking for it while she was in her room. And, remember, there may not be any more treasure. I didn't actually see anything."

Cadorna scowled, then snapped at the mage: "You'll bring back anything that may be of use to me!"

"Of course." Gensor pulled up his hood and turned toward the door.

"Go, then, but bring back word this evening. Understand?"

"I think so. Oh, before I forget… what of the Lord of the Ruins?" asked Gensor.

"What do you mean?"

"What have you done to satisfy his inquiries about the gnoll encampment? He must be furious."

"As soon as I meet with his next messenger, I'll explain that I was forced to take action but that I'll see that those parts quickly fall back into his hands."

"Interesting." Gensor scrutinized Cadorna with a look. "Is that really your intent?"

"Is that really your affair, mage?"

"I suppose not. But I'll know soon enough, in any event." Gensor turned and slipped through the door. Cadorna just barely made out the mage's parting words: "See you too soon."

Slate-colored thunderheads billowed and churned in a circle directly over Shal's head. Lightning bolts raged out in every direction above her. Shal extended her well-muscled arms skyward and flexed her taut fingers at precisely the right moment as she incanted yet another Weather Control spell. The bit of moistened earth she'd been holding vanished into the gray sky, and the bottom of the nearest thunderhead immediately became like so many bowls of gray dust, swirling first in one direction and then another.

The largest of the bowls swelled and bulged as if the cloud's mists were fighting against themselves and the confines of the bowl. Moments later, a snake of curling, writhing vapor broke free from the thunderhead and spiraled down, bringing with it the dragon winds of a fierce tornado. In a triumphant gesture, Shal dispatched the descending cyclone out to sea, where it became a waterspout filled with fury, vacuuming the Moonsea's waters into its hungry vortex and spewing them high into the air.

When the twister did not dissipate as she had intended but continued to rage across the bay, Shal beat the air with her fists and exhaled through clenched teeth. "Damn!" She watched in despair as the waterspout changed direction and surged back toward the docks of Phlan, which were lined with boats whose captains had chosen not to risk travel during such a violent storm. Shal spoke the words of a simple cantrip, one she had tried only on much smaller, less volatile subjects, and did her level best to push the tornado away. It held and came no closer, but she had to channel all her energies and repeat the cantrip three times to finally get it to turn back to sea. For several minutes, the twister darkened the waters of the bay. Finally it slowed, began to dissipate, and spewed its last. Shal slumped down on the rooftop of the inn, exhausted.