The cellars are a little damp, but seem secure. The Cyclopean stone pillars give the impression of Second Empire architecture - much older than anything on the surface of the Academy of the Mind, even if it's not quite as ancient as the dome of the Karazthan. If Batendal isn't safe here, he won't be safe anywhere. They pass some steps leading further down to even lower levels, but Gurnyla tells Karogeth that those chambers are flooded.

"Now, if Guruinath cannot be trusted, who were you in communication with?", Gurlyla asks Karogeth.

Karogeth

"Lavuyl Zalyn and Faeryn. I can personally vouch for the latter, and he vouched for the former. Speaking of which, I'd best update them that we're in a place of relative safety. I'll err on the side of caution and make sure they don't have the exact point."

"Lavuyl Zalyn?", says Gurnyla, "He's one of The Twelve. I suppose we should be thankful to The Guardians the conspiracy doesn't go that high".

Karogeth

"Precisely. Now, let's see what the latest developments are: Both the Karazthan and Academy have paid in blood this day, and we need to make damned sure those responsible are thwarted. How's Batendal doing?"

He reactivated his communicator, speaking,

"Lavuyl Zalyn, Faeryn, this is Karogeth. Batendal is in a place of safety, what's the situation at the moment?"

"The airship has crashed on the west bank; it won't fire on the Academy again", comes the reply, "I don't have any reports of casualties. No direct communication from The Legion as yet, I have reports that they have Guriunath under arrest from our own men at the scene".

Karogeth

"Understood. Any further news on co-conspirators? Does the airship appear to be salvageable?"

"I'm security rather than technical", he says, "Have to wait until Fareyn can examine the wreckage. And I don't have the forces available to secure the crash site, so the lowlives from the West Bank will probably have too much time for looting".

Karogeth

"Guardians damn their thieving souls, that craft is beyond price! Isn't there anything we can do? run a generator to give anyone touching the hull a shock? anything?"

"You technical people might think differently", he says, "But I'm more concerned for our people on board; I don't know the fate of any of the crew as yet"

There is a pause.

"I must go", he says, "I've had confirmation that The Legion have Guruinath captive. I must head there at once".

Karogeth

"Understood, Karogeth out."

He turned his attention back to Batendal: With Guruinath out of the equation, that just left however many people were left to silence him.

Batendal is still very weak. But he's conscious.

"What's happening", he says in a weak, croaking voice.

Karogeth

"An Airship fired on you, but was shot down itself in turn. Our people are cleaning up at the scene. We're alive, but another couple of Wizards died making sure of that."

"Why?", he says, "And why did you try to save me?".

His face shows the expression one might expect on hearing of the destruction of one of the Karazthan's irreplaceable craft, with the possibility that it might all be his fault.

Karogeth

"Because people have been trying to silence you by having you killed, even to the point of using one of the Airships against you. That means what you know is vitally important to them, worth more even then one of our airships, and it's that kind of wrong-headed thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. Trashing the submersible, losing the airship... The goals of these people are so completely and utterly antithetical to everything I stand for, everything I believe in, that opposing them in every way was the only course of action."

"I... I didn't want to", he said, "But if I didn't.... I...I...". He pauses to cough. "I would die".

Karogeth

"Yes, you said. It is to be hoped that we've put that behind us now..."

"What... going to happen to me now", he asks.

Karogeth

"Well, not getting assassinated by your former 'associates' is about the only guarantee I'm giving. What would you like to happen now?"

"Tell Fareyn and Dalarath the truth", he says, "And catch those... those... people".

Karogeth

"Oh, we can certainly have that. They're busy on the catching part as we speak, but I can see if Faeryn's free to hear what you have to say..."

He checked his communicator.

The communicator is alive, and still gets a signal. This is probably a good thing, because it means nobody has blown up the dome.

"Fareyn here", says the voice on the other end, "What's the situation?".

Karogeth

"We are secure here: Batendal wishes to tell you everything. Putting him on."

"I want to have Batendal moved back to the dome as soon as Lavuyl tells me it is safe", says Fareyn before Karogeth passes the communicator to the stricken Batendal.

Batendal then goes into a long, rambling and not totally coherent account of how he'd been poisoned, and how he'd die unless he did the bidding of the poisoners who could supply the antidote.

"What are the Karazthan going to do next?", Gurnyla asks Karogeth, "I had thought it was only the Academy of the Mind that was divided into murderous factions, while the Karazthan was united behind the agenda of its inscrutable leaders. Clearly we have been mistaken".

"Oh, we're united, all right. This is the exception that proves the rule: One bad apple spreading malign influence, the rest of us uniting to purge it and be unified once more."

"Has the danger of further attacks passed, or are some of your rotten apples still at large?", she asks.