Rasmus was swimming, no he was floating in space, on second thought he was swimming.

Rasmus wasn't sure where he was. He was surrounded by a dull grey light, and he was suspended in something akin to water but not quite. Given that he was a poor swimmer at the best of times, he doubt he was immersed in water, however it felt liquidity and he could see ripples in it. What was really puzzling was that he could breathe in it or maybe he was not breathing at all. Rasmus was not sure.

As Rasmus paddled mindlessly about the grey, he felt something drag him down. Not something physical like a hand or a tentacle, but a great weight seemed to be hoisted on him and he could release it. While he panicked and thrashed it did not seem to do any good as he was slowly but inevitably pulled to the bottom.

What was most disconcerting was what was waiting for him at the bottom. It was himself, but not quite himself. Rasmus saw a facsimile of himself pulling invisible chains at the weights that dragged him down. This man was stockier, and had a vigour about him, and didn't quite feel like himself.

As he sank lower and lower, Rasmus could see the man gnash his teeth upwards at him. This fake Rasmus wasn't just dragging him down, he was going to eat him!

.

.

.

Rasmus awoke in a cold sweat. He would have sat up but found himself not only bound hand and foot but gagged as well. Not ropes like they had placed on Vetta but manacles, chains, and even an iron gag with what felt like a tongue depressor. His only saving grace was that his hands were bound in front of him, not cruelly bent behind like Captain Dwen would do to recaptured Halfling slaves.

As quiet and as still as he could, Rasmus scanned the room with slits for his eyes and surveyed his surroundings.

He was still in the trophy room, near the Abberation section. That foul collection of things that shouldn't exist. Monsters such as the shellfish like Chuul, the rubbery monkey humanoids called chokers, the floating spiked gasbag Flumphs, and an incomplete beholder shell Leroung purchased at a mage auction. All of them gave Rasmus the chills, as he would rather prefer to be in the magical monster section or even the construct wing.

Near him was an old man wearing a green gold robe and a skull cap sitting on a box , leaning on his heavy staff. He had a haggard unwashed look about him, but Rasmus still recognized him. With his thin chiseled face, long greasy dark hair, and curved nose it could only be Kasmir Rosala, the Antiquarian of Egorian.

This puzzled Rasmus. Kasmir had been an ally of Leroung, or so he was lead to believe. Why would he throw him in shackles? Had Kasmir played his master false? Or was there something else at play here.

As Rasmus pondered this, he also spotted a short bearded dwarf in leathers, armed with a crossbow. He was perched atop a massive multieyed humanoid creature called a Grey Render. This was one of his master's prized specimens ( It was the largest of its kind north of the Inner Sea supposedly) and occupied a central spot in the wing.

At the base of the Grey Render there were three humans in armour. One was in bright silver armour, the other two seemed dressed as Hellknights, all three bore the symbol of Iomedae. It was then that Rasmus reconized Slygja. She stood amongst them like equals, and more importantly she wasn't slapped in chains. For a second he wondered if she aided his captors, but then saw she was arguing with them, but he couldn't quite make out their words. From her tone and the way she pointed at him, she sounded sympathetic to him, but he couldn't be sure. Still, he found the fact she was arguing his case comforting at least.

"I know you're awake 'old friend'," said Kasmir sarcastically from his nearby box. "It seems you can't control your spells or guardians, so drop the ward like a good little mage and perhaps we'll spare you."

Rasmus remained still, he had no idea what he was talking about, but he was going to give him the satisfaction of being…

"OWMPPHH!" bleated Rasmus in his gag as Kasmir rapped his head with his staff breaking his ruse. Rasmus painfully recalled how he was subdued earlier.

At the sound of his commotion, the three knights walked towards Kasmir and Rasmus, but the dwarf remained on guard.

"Stop this," said Slygja who now sounded more clear."Why won't you believe me that this isn't Lord Leroung, it's his apprentice Rasmus."

The Silver Knight laughed. It was the laugh of confidence, the laugh of someone who always won, and had everything come easy for him. Rasmus hated that laugh. "I dunno. He's a mage, he bears a distinct semblance to Leroung, and even you've said he has a powerful Ice Devil at his beck and call. A part of me wants to believe he's just a bumbling apprentice trying to escape the tower, but the smarter half knows that Leroung here, probably had you under a charm to make you more pliable to his suggestions."

"You might be right," said Kasmir.

"Though there's a good chance you could be wrong." Rasmus's hopes rose. "I visited this tower a few times, scouting actually, on the pretext I was grading some of Leroung's rarer texts. I did notice a few of his apprentices bore similar appearances to their master."

The other Hellknight grunted. "That could mean anything. He could have mentored cousins, nephews, or just locals that shared the same blood. These mountain folk are quite inbred I heard. Or the more likely explanation was that he kept body doubles in case of assassination attempts or hostile scrying."

"But the Lilitu and the Alu fiend both said this was Rasmus not Leto," protested Sylgja.

"The fact you encountered both fiends and survived suggests to me that your memory has been compromised or perhaps you've even been enchanted to believe their lies. Or you might have hallucinated both of them which also invalidates your statement," said the Silver Knight.

"Gods, you're an ass Hector," spat Sylgja.

"I try to be," grinned the Silver Knight.

"We should interrogate him. Find out his true identity," said Kasmir. "Tremane not Sylgja. I too fear she might be under a spell."

Sylgja grew flustered at the accusation. She simply grew red but held her tongue.

The other Hellknight shrugged and brought out two knuckledusters. One silver and one iron. He stared at them before slipping both on. "Look, I'm not really good at this. This is more Sylgja's specialty. I usually end up just beating them till they are unconscious."

"Let's just kill him," shouted the dwarf. "Boo hoo if its Sylgja's new boyfriend. Knife that finger waggler , search his stuff, and let's move on. If it's a nobody then no hair off my beard, if it's the big boss man, than hoody hoo….jackpot."

"Enough," said Hector in a commanding voice. " I won't stand for torture or executions, regardless if it's against an evil mage of the Empire. I know our objective was to slay Leroung, but these magical wards have completely stymied our efforts. We've already lost three good men including our leader, so I say we cut our losses and retreat, taking him along as a prisoner. If this man here is an apprentice, the Reclamation high command would ferret that out. If however he is Lord Leto Leroung, well we can have a trial instead. "

Sylgja wanted to argue, but upon considering his statement and nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"You're not the leader," said Kasmir grimly.

"Neither are you," said Hector.

The two men glared at each other for almost a minute, but Kasmir broke his gaze first. "Fine, since Nicous died and myself being a mere advisor to the Great Reclamation, I say we put this to a vote. Like a common Andoran mob."

Hector thought about his proposal and seemed welcome to it. "I'm the most senior of the knights here so I'll vote first. We've tried our best, but we've come unprepared. I vote we leave."

Tremane shrugged. "I prefer to press on but I don't want Nicous' sacrifice to be in vain. He died to save us from that Hydra. Also, apprentice or not, that man might have some valuable information for our cause. Which makes it easy to decide. We leave."

"I haven't gotten a lick of gold yet. I'm staying till we see some loot," shouted the dwarf still atop of the Grey Render.

"Go figure," mumbled Hector under his breath.

"You know my feelings on this," said Kasmir. "We stay till we discover this tower's secrets. For the Reclamation's benefit of course."

All eyes then turned on Sylgja.

"Believe me or not, I've seen terrors that are way beyond us here. We should leave while we can," said the Paladin.

Rasmus breathed a sigh of relief through his metal gag and tongue depressor.

"Disappointing. A small minded decision by small minded people," sighed Kasmir.

Hector grinned from ear to ear. "Well I'm glad you respect our collective will. No use pouting about it now. Let's break camp and…."

*KRRAACKKK*

Hector's order was cut short as a bolt of lightning steaked through his body.