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"Yes, let us go" Goldmoon secunds Raistlin. "You lead."

"Yes, we must go." Riverwind follows the mage. Grabbing Goldmoon's hand, he whispers, 'So far so good"

Moving quickly, and with Sestun tagging along, the party heads up the stairs to the next floor level. As soon as they reach the top, and Raistlin pauses a moment to catch his breath, a loud bell begins ringing. It sounds as if coming from every direction.

"An alarm," Tanis says. "Were we discovered already?"

"Or Sturm and the others," Caramon speculates.

"Either way, we have even less time now," Raistlin adds. "We must keep moving."

Meanwhile, in the cellar, the magical ringing can be heard there, too.

"What is it? What does it mean?" Laurana asks, wearily.

"Trouble," Elistan answers. "Everyone, get ready to move out. We're leaving now."

"But we have another twenty minutes!" Maritta protests.

"Not anymore, we don't," Elistan says. "Whatever triggered that alarm means there will be guards coming here soon to check on us. We haven't time to spare. We must head out to the courtyard now, and place our faith in the gods that everything will work out the way it should."

"Yes, where do we go?" Goldmoon presses on.

"This way," Raistlin says, having caught his breath.

This huge room is chilly, exposed to the autumn drafts by a number of slit windows along the curving walls. To the left, it follows the angle of the wall of the fortress out of sight.

The entire outer wall of the room is covered with paintings. The different styles and varying degree of aging indicate that they were created over a long span of Krynn's history. The paintings show woodland scenes, rugged mountains, several views of Pax Tharkas, and portraits of various elves and dwarves, dressed in fine costume.

There is nobody in this room, so the party can move freely. The paintings seem to be organized chronologically, getting more recent as the party moves forward.

The first paintings show a high mountain pass glittering in the light of the sun. Snowfields flash among the peaks, and thick forests cover the lower slopes. Many streams, swolen by ponds and waterfalls, wind into the lowlands.

A large band of sturdy dwarves labor in the pass, building a low stone wall across the opening. Now many elves appear, bearing huge logs on low wagons, and the wall takes on a familiar form. First the main wall of Pax Tharkas goes up, elves and dwarves working side by side in the monumental task. Then, even as two curtain walls rise on the slopes below the main wall, two mighty towers begin to inch their way into the sky.

After a few pictures displaying the various stages of construction, during which the seasons make the yearly cycle several times, the fortress assumes its current shape. Following this series are a number of portraits displaying various elves and dwarves, usually dressed in shiny plate mail and bearing gleaming weapons. A number of these paintings have been crudely defaced.

Then begins a series where mighty dragons rage about the towers of Pax Tharkas. Acid, lightning, fire and cold all rain down upon courageous defenders, driving them from the parapets to shelter within the solid walls. Soon, the mighty dragons land all over the fortress, and it seems the mighty Pax Tharkas has fallen.

But then new weapons appear. Long, slender, and gleaming like polished silver, these lances are carried by fighters of highest courage. Slowly, at a fearful cost, the dragons are driven from the towers and walls. Great gashes burrow into their scaly hides, as they begin to bleed and die. Finally, although the parapets are red with the defenders' blood, the skies are free of dragons and it seems that peace has once again returned.

At this point, the course of history has carried halfway around the room. Several more portraits follow, this time displaying human leaders in historic poses; then the series ends.

Faded spots on the wall show that more paintings hung here at one time; a pile of blackened ashes at the far end of the room provides a clue to their fate.

"I wish I knew more about the history of other lands than the plains" Goldmoon murmurs. "But we have no time to lose. Which way now, Raistlin?"

"Look at these weapons...these weird lances," Caramon notes. "They were somehow able to defeat dragons with them. What kind of lances can do that?"

Tanis shakes his head. "No time to find out. Let's move on."

Raistlin leads them to a narrow stone walkway, covered with dust, leading through the length of the Tharkadan wall, high above the ground. To the right, 10' below, are scattered piles of massive granite. To the left, the mighty chain stretches across the darkness. Many chains, only slightly smaller, lead from this massive chain underneath the walkway, apparently connecting somehow with the stone blocks on the right.

At the far end of the walkway, a large screw and winch mechanism sit. "There," Raistlin says. "It will not be easy, but we can use this to release the chain and destroy the north gate."

"Do you have any magic that could help us?" Goldmoon asks Raistlin as she walks over to the winch. She tries to find a place where she can help without taking too much place away from the strong men.

Riverwind follows and begins to look the mechanism over. Not all that good in mechanics, he does figure out where all the weight is coming from. "Flint. what do you make of ths?"

"Here," the dwarf says, pointing to a large lever. "It'll take a lot of strength and several minutes to move it, though."

Tika stares at the history on the walls curiously. "We need lances like those," she said softly. Of course, she didn't have a clue as to how they would get something like that.

While the men try to figure out the mechanism, Goldmoon walks over to Tika, intrigued by her remark. "Can we see anything about these lances? Let's look at the pictures closely, maybe we get a clue where they came from or how they were made"

Riverwind sheaths his blade before spitting on his hands and rubbing them together. "Might as well get started then." He approaches the level and grabs hold.

Riverwind finds his strength alone is not nearly enough. Caramon and Tanis all join in, adding their strength to his. Even with the three working together, it still takes several minutes to push the lever from one side to the other. Eventually, they are successful however. And the tons of granite go tumbling down as the chain is released.

The foundation of the fortress itself shakes violently, like it was in a massive earthquake. The sound is devastating and so much dust is kicked up into the air, it makes it difficult for anyone to see for several more minutes.

When at last, silence returns, the north gate has been completely blocked by several metric tons of rock. "Well, they definitely heard that!" Flint comments, coughing from the dust.

"Indeed. We must get to the courtyard now, and quickly," Raistlin agrees.

Have Goldmoon and Tika been able to learn anything from the paintings?