As a follower of Kelemvor, the dead and the undead were a part of Nordak's life. It was his duty to ensure that the dead rested in peace and his responsibility to destroy the undead. The reanimated corpses were shells of their former selves and even the more intelligent of the undead weren't spared from the wrath of the Kelemvor. For years, Nordak had fought against the risen dead, and while there had been a few close calls in his career as a hunter of undead, he pushed on. At the end of the day, he couldn't afford to fear the undead.

Still, he recognized that the undead were horrifying. Whether it was a skeleton, ghoul, ghost, or vampire, no one cared to see the remains of a twisted corpse that's typically out to kill them. Nordak had only changed his opinion on adventurers recently, and even before then, he respected that even though many of them were foolish, they were not the kind of people to flee from undead. Adventurers stood their ground and fought against the risen dead whereas the common peasant of Phlan would run in terror. When Nordak left Arannis, Pallas, Nalos, and Camilla in the lower portion of the catacombs, he knew that they would do what it took to deal with the undead.

Nordak respected Hana a great deal, and even when he thought lowly of adventurers, she was the exception. The young sorceress was smart in her own way and eager to discover the truth. He always enjoyed the conversations they shared and her magic had helped turn the tide of battle before. Still, Nordak couldn't help but worry about Hana's fear of ghouls. She was able to push through her panic to deal with ghouls, but the more she saw of them in a short amount of time, the greater her fear was. If it took a second ghoul sighting in a single night to have her expend her most powerful spell before fleeing, Nordak would need to do what he could to help her so that her phobia didn't get her killed one day.

After backtracking his way through the catacombs, Nordak found Hana sitting by the wall next to the stairs leading out. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she took quick and rapid breaths. When she looked up to the dwarf, he noted that her eyes were stained with tears. Nordak offered no comment and approached the sorceress to take a seat across from her on the stone ground. Several seconds passed in silence before Hana whispered a quiet question to Nordak.

"Are the others alright?"

"They're alive, at least," Nordak answered with a nod. "Arannis took a nasty fall when the stairs collapsed but he's still standing."

"That's good to hear," Hana sighed in relief.

"Aye. The ghoul's dead too but I think it's best if we stay here and not risk finding a way to climb down into the lower catacombs."

"You don't have to stay with me," Hana told Nordak.

"You're right about that," Nordak said, although he didn't stand up from where he was.

The truth was that Nordak should have kept up with the rest of the group to hunt the undead. It was his responsibility as a Kelemvorite to see that the catacombs were cleared of the risen dead. However, he also had an obligation to his friends to make sure they were alright. Nordak knew that anyone of his adventuring companions (aside from Camilla since they just met) would have done what they could to make sure Hana was safe, but he was the only one that could get to her in a timely manner. The sorceress rubbed her eyes with both hands and sighed again.

"A year after I left home, I came across a group of travelers," Hana said. "They let me follow their path and I journeyed with them for three days. They were good people. Gerald, Tyra, and Eldon were the first friends I've made since I left my tribe."

"But they're gone, aren't they?" Nordak asked.

Hana nodded quietly. "It was Eldon's turn to set up camp when we were ambushed. I woke up when he screamed out in terror and found him devoured by a ghoul. Three more advanced toward us and I was fortunate enough to burn one with fire before it could get close to me. Gerald and Tyra, well, they didn't have magic."

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to," Nordak told Hana. "I get the picture."

Hana shook her head and wiped away at a tear. "I ran, Nordak. What I saw was too much for me to bear. If I had stayed and tried to help, maybe I could have saved them, but I couldn't help but think about them pouncing on me. I'm not afraid of other kinds of undead, but anytime I see a ghoul, I think back to that night."

"It's alright, lass," Nordak assured Hana. "Your magic is powerful but you can't use it to heal. You made the right choice to run."

"I wish I could move on from that terrible night," Hana said, burying her face in her hands.

"As do I. Until that day, you can count on us to be there for you. We'll help you get through this however we can."

"Thank you," Hana muttered quietly. "This was the first time I've told anyone that story. It… I think it helped."

"I'm glad to think so," Nordak smiled faintly. "Now, come on. Let's get back to the surface and get some rest."

"What about Arannis and the others?" Hana pointed out.

"The stairs are gone so we won't be able to come back for them without a plan," Nordak said. "Don't worry about them. I'm sure they'll be able to handle the rest of the catacombs without us."

"For the last time, there aren't any undead leading that way! We saw the undead come down from this tunnel and that's the way we should go!"

"Look, I'm no paladin, but even I know that there are limits to whatever divine power you have! So what if you don't sense them that way?! There are boot prints leading the way I want to go!"

"Since when have you been a reputable tracker?! Those tracks could have been left by one of the acolytes long ago!"

"Or it could have been left by something that should be dead but isn't! You rely too much on your powers that you don't consider using your damned eyes to see what's in front of you!"

Arannis toned the argument out, shaking his head in disappointment. Pallas and Camilla had been going back and forth for several minutes, far from convincing the other to go down the path they preferred. Camilla made the suggestion to follow the tunnel the undead they killed came from which was a sensible suggestion. However, Pallas noted that the tunnel closest to the collapsed stairs had faint boot prints leading to another part of the catacombs and believed that they weren't left behind by one of the Kelemvorites. The two had been going back and forth, relying on the same few arguments while finding the opportunity to exchange insults. So far, the only member of the group to take a side in the debate was Nalos, who backed Pallas and got a chance to argue when the monk needed time to think of another comeback.

Cassyt stood by Arannis, watching the argument in amusement while staying quiet. Arannis knew that he should have intervened sooner, but after the incident with the collapsed stairs, he needed time to recover. Potions could only do so much for him, and while he figured Camilla could heal him, he didn't want to rely on that unless absolutely necessary. With Nordak out of action, they would need to be careful on the resources they had, especially with healing. He was glad that he was the only one who had been seriously injured so far but that might not last.

At the very least, there weren't any undead nearby, or perhaps they knew better than to interrupt the argument. Arannis turned to Cassyt, speaking quietly while the others continued to insult one another.

"This has been going on for long enough. Where do each of the tunnels lead to?"

"The tunnel that Pallas and Nalos want to go down leads to the sun pit and crematoria," Cassyt explained. "The crematoria is where we store the cremated remains while the sun pit is where Kelemvorites used to destroy vampires."

"Because cremation and killing vampires goes hand-in-hand," Arannis remarked.

"Where else would we store the ashes of the vampires?" Cassyt chuckled.

Arannis smirked. "But there's nothing else that way?"

"That's right," Cassyt nodded. "The tunnel Camilla wants to go down leads deeper into the catacombs."

"Duly noted," Arannis said and turned to face his companions. "If you two lovers are done with your dispute, I've decided on what we're going to do."

"Lovers?!" Camilla gasped and glared at the dark elf. "As if I would lower myself to be with involved with scum like him."

"At least I have charm!" Pallas shot back. "Your looks lure suitors to you, but the minute they find out how insufferable you are, they run to the hills!"

"Enough!" Arannis commanded, silencing the two before the argument could escalate again. "We're going down the tunnel with the boot prints first."

"Hah!"

"And I was starting to think you were the sensible one," Camilla said, her features hardening in frustration. "As I've said, there aren't any undead down that way."

"Cassyt has informed me that there isn't a lot down that way to begin with," Arannis explained. "There are two chambers. We search them as quickly as we can and go down the tunnel the undead came from. It may take a little longer to get to our task but it'll keep Pallas quiet when we do so."

"Hey!"

"I see your point," Camilla nodded. "Fine. We'll go with your plan."

"You mean my plan," Pallas pointed his thumb at himself.

"We're not starting this again," Arannis sighed. "Nalos, I want you to stay between these two until we're out of the catacombs."

"Even during fights?" Nalos asked.

Arannis thought about the question for a second before shrugging. "As long as they don't try to kill each other, you can act however the battle calls for."

"You've got it."

"Cassyt, you'll lead with me. Let's get this over with."

Arannis didn't want to get involved with the drama going around with the trio he had to work with, but at the very least, he can see that Nalos was trying to step up and be more responsible. He was still drawn in to help Pallas but that was more to support a friend than it was because of any ill feelings for Camilla. The triton stepped between the monk and the paladin, who glared at each other but remained silent. Arannis would have called them both out for their childlike behavior if he didn't think it would lead to a ten minute argument. The last thing he wanted was for Nordak to come back to find that they hadn't made any progress because of their bickering.

With Cassyt at his side, Arannis led the way into the tunnel with the boot prints, which turned to the left. After going around the corner, he entered a square-shaped chamber with the ceiling higher up than anywhere else in the catacombs. Arannis glanced up to see moonlight come in from several grates. He could see how the Kelemvorites destroyed undead by chaining them to the walls after staking them to let the sunlight finish them off. However, he noticed that one of the grates had been torn open and frowned. The dark elf looked directly down from where the open grate was, spotting a hook tied to a piece of rope and an iron crowbar.

The others were quick to notice the intrusion when they entered behind Arannis. Pallas went so far as to step toward the grappling hook and hold it up to Camilla.

"Your divine sense may be good for sniffing out undead but it cares little for the living," Pallas said and dropped the hook where it thudded against the ground. "Someone broke in."

"So what?" Camilla shrugged. "We're here to deal with the undead."

"So what?!" Pallas chuckled. "Have you considered how the dead come back to life?! It takes a necromancer to do so!"

"Technically, undead can learn to raise undead as well," Cassyt pointed out.

"Hold up!" Nalos called out. "I heard something coming from the door ahead!"

Arannis nodded in agreement with Nalos and took up a defensive stance by the druid's side. For all of their arguing, Pallas and Camilla recognized that there may be trouble ahead and set aside their differences to join the others for a potential fight. Cassyt wisely stepped toward a corner away from the stone door to not get in their way. The door shifted several times before it flung open and the adventurers readied themselves for conflict.

Instead, a tiefling and a wood elf, each dressed in dark clothing, emerged from the room door. They were joined by a half-orc dressed in similar clothes and who reeked of alcohol (which was a familiar scent to Arannis after the time he spent with Pallas). The tiefling and elf looked up at the adventurers in desperation and held their hands up to show they meant no harm. The half-orc stumbled past the two before coming to a stop. Arannis was quick to notice silver jewelry flowing out of pockets as well as that each of the trio were missing an ear.

"Help!" the half-orc cheered drunkenly. "I'm so glad! I could hug you for saving us!"

"No thank you!" Nalos quickly said, lowering his scimitar. "Words are just fine."

"Do you have any food or water?" the elf asked. "We've been trapped down here for two days and-"

"Pallas?!" the tiefling interrupted his companion with a gasp. "What are you doing down here?!"

"Huh?" Pallas stroked his scraggly beard. "Do I know you?"

"We met at one of the gambling halls," the tiefling explained. "You cleaned us out of all our gold!"

"Oh right!" Nalos nodded. "I thought you three looked familiar. I was there during one of those nights."

"I see," Pallas said with a shrug. "I'll be real honest with you, but when I go out gambling, I'm more drunk than your friend over there, so I don't remember who any of you are."

"He's drunk because the only thing we brought for food or water was whiskey that he refused to share when we trapped ourselves to stay safe from the undead," the elf said. "Speaking of, if we could get some food…"

"So, let me get this straight," Camilla interrupted the elf. "You decided to break into the catacombs to steal from the dead and have been trapped here for however long?"

"That's a bold accusation," Arannis told Camilla. "What makes you think they're thieves."

"Their ears," Camilla answered. "The Welcomers, Phlan's thieves guild, requires for their members to cut off an ear to join."

"We don't mean any trouble after what we went through," the tiefling said with the elf nodding in agreement. "We just want to get out of here while we still can. Please, you have to help us."

"If anything, we should turn you in to the Black Fist," Camilla said sternly.

"Oh come on," Pallas threw his hands up. "The Black Fist will have them killed for stealing some trinkets."

"As much as I hate siding with Pallas, we're not exactly in a position to take prisoners," Arannis said with a sigh. "The stairs leading out of the catacombs are destroyed so we can't exactly turn them in until sunrise."

"I'll cut the three of you a deal right now since we're apparently gambling buddies," Pallas told the thieves. "You give all of the trinkets you stole to Cassyt so that they can be returned to their proper corpse. I'll help you get out and you go on to live normal lives outside of the Welcomers."

"Deal!" the elf spoke on behalf of his group. "We won't cause anyone any more trouble after tonight."

Camilla turned to Arannis and crossed his arms. "You can't seriously consider letting Pallas do this."

"The doomguide isn't going to like this," Cassyt pointed out quietly.

Nalos stepped toward Pallas as a sign of support to the monk's plan. Arannis had no love for the Welcomers but recognized that they didn't have time to deal with them. It helped that he was technically a criminal through his association with the Zhentarim but that was less of a personal choice and more of a family obligation. Still, he didn't think Pallas had a chance to help the trio of thieves escape and Camilla wouldn't want to waste time.

"If they give up their trinkets, they technically wouldn't have committed a crime," Arannis explained. "Be that as it may, we're not going to spend all night getting them out of the catacombs. Pallas, I'm giving you five minutes to try to get them out of here. If any of them are still around afterwards, I'll let Camilla decide what to do with them."

Camilla nodded along with the plan. "I agree to those terms. There's no way you can get them out."

"Watch me," Pallas said with a smirk. "Nalos, I don't want you involved in this. I can handle this on my own."

"Well, if you say so," Nalos shrugged.

"I guess they have learned their lesson," Cassyt noted, tapping her chin in thought. "Very well. As long as they don't leave with any of their stolen goods, I won't mention what happens here."

Pallas clapped his hands together and turned to the thieves. "Alright, you three. Empty out your pockets and tell me what we have to work with to get you all out of the catacombs."

The thieves were quick to take out any trinkets they had and dropped them to the ground, leaving them for Cassyt to pick up. Based on the relief across the elf and tiefling's faces and the fact they made sure their drunk companion had given up all of his goods, Arannis was certain they weren't going to smuggle anything out. He kept out of it, interested to see the kind of plan Pallas could come up with. Even when he had too much to drink, Pallas was crafty in his own way, both in a fight and out. The dark elf was interested in seeing what his companion could do when sober.

Between the three thieves, Pallas had three coils of rope, two sets of fine lockpicks, a bag of ball bearings, a grappling hook, an iron bar, and an empty flask of the whiskey the half-orc had for himself. The half-elf looked over the different items, stroking his scraggly beard in thought. The obvious answer was to try to use the grappling hook to get to the grate, something the thieves admitted they struggled to do even before the undead showed up. Arannis wasn't going to point it out for his friend but there was a complication. Even if Pallas could get the grappling hook up to the grate, the half-orc was in no condition to climb, and the tiefling and elf were far from strong enough to carry the bigger thief up along with them.

Pallas focused on the immediate issue of coming up with a way to get the thieves out of the catacombs. He took the grappling hook and tested the rope. After he made sure it was secure, the monk spun the hook three times before throwing it towards the grate. Much to Arannis' surprise, the hook connected with an iron bar on the first throw. Nalos let out a whistle to see Pallas succeeded and even Camilla dropped her jaw in awe given the height of the ceiling. Pallas tugged on the rope twice to make sure the hook was secured and turned back to the thieves with a grin.

The elf climbed out of the catacombs first followed by the tiefling. It was only when the half-orc tried to climb and fell down the first foot that Pallas realized the problem. The half-elf frowned and tapped his chin in thought. The other thieves had taken the rest of the supplies with them, leaving him with nothing else to work with. Just when Arannis thought that there was nothing more that could be done, Pallas snapped his fingers and called out his plan to the thieves waiting for their companion above.

The two thieves tied their coils of rope together at the end and dropped part of it down the grate while holding onto it the other end. Pallas had plenty of rope to work with on his end and was able to tie a makeshift harness around the half-orc. The knots were secured enough that the giggling half-orc wouldn't fall out, and now that the other thieves were on solid ground, they would have to pull their friend up. The half-orc bumped his head against the wall near the end but he made it through the open grate.

"I'm keeping this for services rendered!" Pallas shouted when he pulled on the grappling hook with enough strength to remove it from the bar. He turned to his companions. "How much time do I have left?"

"Huh?" Cassyt gasped. "I'll be honest but I wasn't keeping track. Did anyone else?"

"You had a minute and forty-three seconds left," Camilla noted. "You still don't know how to fight but I can admit that you're rather quick on your feet."

"How else am I going to get up from the ground when I fall?" Pallas chuckled. "We're done here, right?"

"If the room the thieves hid in was all that was left in this tunnel, then we are," Arannis nodded.

"Then let's get going," Nalos said with his companions nodding in agreement.

A/N: As an update on the editing, both Defiance in Phlan and A Night in Phlan have been updated to fix grammar mistakes. Next up, I'll be working on editing Secrets of Sokol Keep.

Until next time.