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--------------------- Chapter 15: Yaaah! Daemons! --------------------
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(Kaeyar:)
While poking around the room with Arlon, looking for carvings,
writings, etc, Kaeyar says quietly "I'm not going anywhere near that
trident, no way, no.  Gods seem to be far too attached to once-holy
places for my comfort...Maybe we should go ahead and get on with..."

(DM:)
As Dithion touches the trident, a blast of force hurls you all back,
those closer than 5 meters from the trident falling and tumbling
down...  All of you land in a heap ten meters from the trident or
more.

(Kaeyar:)
Whooomp!  He gets thrown against the wall by the blast of force.

(DM:)
The area in front of the trident shimmers, and a shadowy figure of a
wizened mermaid appears, dressed in some kind of ceremonial robes. She
begins to talk in an incomprehensible (to any of you. Any speak
ancient mermen? Did not think so) language with a saddened face. The
tone seems apologizing and warning whoever it is meant for. The visage
appears to be a programmed illusion or so, for the mermaid stares to
some point straight ahead of you, and not to you in particular. After
having concluded her speech, the shimmering changes. The visage of the
mermaid disappears, and in it's stead three hideous creatures appear,
straight out of your nightmares.

(Kaeyar:)
At the sight of the Mermaid "illusion", he begins backing towards the
door, saying "uh, folks, I think maybe we should try...uh...*groan*"
as the demons appear.

(DM:)
They appear only too real for any of your comforts. Two smaller (5'
tall) hunched lobster-like creatures.  Their heads resemble those of
carrion crawlers, and they stand on birdlike claws.  Their arms are
lobster pincers, the bodies are also lobster-like. The third creature
is even more hideous. It has a round body, stands on three legs, and
has five arms ending in nasty looking claws. The head is insectoid,
with fangs, and spins around now and then to survey the room. It spins
a full 360 degrees. They look at you with hunger in their eyes, and
after a moment of dizziness upon their arrival, they slowly advance on
you.....

Upon seeing them, Shade groans, and mutters "Oh no... Daemons.... Not
here!  Shit!"

(Shade:)
At the sight of the daemons the drow shivers "I did not like to fight
with them, back home, -he mutters to himself - but the idea of
fighting _AGAINST_ them is reaaally disgusting!"

(Dithion:)
Dithion, if he wasn't blown to smithereens, jumps up and says, "Run
away, run away!"  He picks up his club, and will slowly back toward
the exit.  If any get too close he will swing wildly trying to keep
them at bay.  He yells, "Are these things real?  Or another
illusion!?!"  (disbelieve if possible)

(DM:)
No one was blown to smithereens, just pushed away by a blast of force,
having the effect more of a gust of wind than any real damage. You
disbelieve (and trust me you want to ;-) but they are still there in
the 'flesh?'.  AND you don't KNOW if the first appearance (the mermaid)
was an illusion, I only suggested it MIGHT be one....... :)

And, as to whether the trident is still there, the answer is that Yes,
as far as you can guess. The glow is still there, but the creatures
kinda block your sight of it. You have no real reason to believe it is
gone tho..

(Kaeyar:)
In the ensuing confusion, Kaeyar casts a quick spell, and 4 bolts of
energy race forth to strike the demons (4 magic missiles, 2 at each of
the lobsters).

(Keilan:)
Keilan comes running through the passageway toward the party shortly
after he hears the blast (from the trident).  As he enters the room,
he stops in disbelief at the creatures before him.  "By the gods!  Is
this what the fools have sought?"

(Dithion:)
A slight smile appears on Dithion's face as Keilan enters the room, he
says, "You're in the wrong business."

(Keilan:)
After the initial shock, he quickly steps forward and hauls Tatiana
and/or Silver to safety behind him.  (I don't know where anyone is in
the room.)  He then assumes a fighting stance with his staff held in
both hands, waiting for the first move of the abominations.

(Silver:)
As Keilan starts to pull Silver back to the door, she calls out "Wait,
Keilan, I may be able to do something yet ...." and then she will back
slowly towards the door as she delves into her satchel.

Digging in her satchel, she pulls out a small piece of what looks like
clay.  While she quickly dips that into her waterskin, she intones

	"Mielikki, grant me the power to make these creatures walk
                      the paths they deserve.
	 Grant me the power to effect the very earth itself.
	 Grant me safety from these vile beings."

So saying, she throws the lump of wet clay in front of the advancing
creatures.  "Back !  All of you ! Quickly !" Silver cries out,
concentrating all the time on the shape that this piece of clay should
form. The colour of the floor around the clay changes colour, and as
the feet of the hideous creatures touch it, they topple into the mud.
As they sink below the surface, Silver will stop concentrating, and
the muddy area will stop growing.  Silver sags noticeably when she
stops the spell, as if the power of the spell was extremely demanding.

OOC: Transmute Rock to Mud. I am assuming that I can control the shape
     and limit of the area to be converted - 10 feet deep, and
     spreading away from the party, but avoiding the trident and stand
     which shimmers.

(Silver:)
As Silver completes her first spell, she turns to Tatiana and says
"Hey, Ana, would it be 'reckless' or a 'calculated risk' to see if
someone standing on the mother-of-pearl stand could control these evil
creatures ?"

(Tatiana:)
"I'd say, it's reckless" she replies in a scared but controlled voice

(DM:)
Meta: The stand is far too fragile for anyone to stand on, it is not a
      solid block.

(DM:)
The Rock to Mud works like a charm, it seems. The small area becomes
mud, and the creatures sink into it. The lobster Daemons swim
confidently in it struggling to reach your side of the mud pool, they
do not sink.

(Keilan:)
Keilan watches hopefully as the ground goes soft and the creatures
sink into the mud, but his face turns grim again as the lobsters begin
plodding across.

(Dithion:)
Dithion will position himself between everyone and the Daemons.  I
assume he can do this since he was the 'fool' that touched the
trident.  : )

(Shade:)
He tries to dispel the Rock to Mud spell of Silver and then screams to
the companions "These beasts are immune to normal weapons and ice,
fire and acid attacks: we had better go in the main room in order to
have more freedom of action."

He pushes/pulls/does what is needed to persuade his friends to get out.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana eyes are wide with shock.  Looking to her longsword as Shade
tells of the need for magical items to hurt the demons, she quakes
more with concern.

"I can't hurt them with my weapons then" she said for the group to
hear.

(DM:)
While the lobster-type daemons swim across the mud pool, the round one
sinks like a rock, but suddenly, the place where he sank collapses,
and a mud smudged Daemon suddenly appears in front of you.  "Teleport"
Arlon groans..

(Silver:)
I see the lobsters swimming across, the other apparition teleporting
out of the mud.  *Bad Move* I think to myself, *Wasted Her Gift*.

(Keilan:)
As the rotund one teleports back out, Keilan's mouth gapes open in an
expression of shock.  "Let's see if he can do it again!"  And Keilan
charges the thing hoping to topple it back into the mud (which may or
may not be mud for long depending on this dispel business)

(Tatiana:)
"Holy Mother of ..." not bothering to complete her comment she thrust
her hands out with all her fingers pointed at the Teleporting demon,
just as Keilan rushed it.  4 bolts of magical energy flew from her
finger tips striking it full in the chest.

"Let's hope it can't resist magic missiles"

(DM:)
Tatiana casts her magical missiles, and four bolts of purest energy
streak at the Daemon.  The missiles reach him, and moments before
striking it, the missiles dissipate.

"Yeah, that's right, they have Magic Resistance too." Call out Arlon
and Shade almost at the same time.

(Falrun:)
Falrun quickly picks himself up off the floor.  He sees the creatures
approaching and a quick shiver runs down his spine.  "Ohh, I hope
these aren't anything like spiders", he mutters to himself
disgustedly.

He then draws his swords and begins to make his way around the right
side of the party trying to be the furthest person to the right.
There he valiantly engages the creature closest to him.

(DM:)
Shade I guess casts a dispel magic, and the two lobsters are caught in
the stone, however, they were just about to get out of the pool, so
they are only half caught. They begin to furiously lash out at anyone
coming near them, and bashing the rock in an attempt to gain free. At
one of their bashes, you see the stone begin to split slowly. You
understand that within a few minutes, the monsters will be free again.
It is too late to bowl the third deamon into the mud, for mud it is no
longer....

Even so, Keilan got too close to the round Daemon, and gets swiped.
One claw hits, and Keilan is slammed to the side into Falrun,
clutching his left arm which is now useless (12 hp damage...)

(Falrun:)
Upon seeing the two other creatures caught (for now), Falrun will pick
himself up and try to get past the two creatures.  He is trying to
grab the trident and try to attack the monsters with it, from behind.

(DM:)
Dithion is defiantly facing the centre Daemon, taking the guilt of
having triggered the device, he swipes like a man possessed to guard
his friends while they collect themselves and think of a sound
strategy.

Dithion lashes out with his club, but it bounces harmlessly off the
scaly hide of the monster. With a roar of anger, two arms of the
Daemon rake out, and one hits Dithion with the force of a sledge
hammer. Dithion is piled right on top of Keilan and Falrun, a nasty
gash along his left side, a few ribs broken (11 hpd).

(Keilan:)
Keilan screams in agony as his body is beaten and battered into
Falrun.  His staff is lost on the ground in the process, skittering
across the floor.  Hearing the cries of retreat, he pulls himself to
his feet and half-runs to the door holding his injured arm with his
good arm.  Any assistance is shoved away with a quick "I'll make it."

(Silver:)
"Forgive me, Mielikki, for wasting your gift" Silver calls out. She
then rushes over to the pile of bodies and helps to separate them.
Silver will help to get wounded people out of the room before trying
anything more to hurt these creatures. She will hope that the fighters
can provide some sort of defensive shield while the rest of us get out
of there.

(DM:)
Shade, trying to extricate his companions, swings his swords at the
Daemon. The short sword bounces off its hide harmlessly, the longsword
however, pierces the Daemons hide, and blackish blood begins to ooze
out of the wound. Another attempt by the Daemon to hit Shade too
misses...
	
(Shade:)
"I _SUGGEST_ we get out of here quickly!" - screams the drow - "Then
Kaeyar can prevent the crab-like daemons from following us with
Evard's black tentacles on the door" - he smiles wryly - "then we'll
find a way to dispose of this nice spider-like pet."

"Hurry guys I'm not a warrior."
 
OOC: as the shortsword is useless I use it just to parry and keep on
     trying to hit the beast with the long.
 
(Dithion:)
Dithion will move over to the lobsters that are trapped, and proceed
to pound them into mush with his club.

(DM:)
Suddenly, Arlon grabs a small ziggurat, and drops it to the ground. He
mumbles under his breath, and suddenly his features begin to melt and
shift.  He shrinks in upon himself, until a black squirrel with
intelligent eyes stands in his place. The squirrel grabs the ziggurat
and in a daring feat, rushes past the Daemons. His path takes him past
the left most Daemon, and the 'Lobster tries to swipe at him, but the
squirrel is too quick. Once past them, The squirrel expands, and a
Merman stands there! It picks up the ziggurat, and begins to cast
desperately. Then it grabs the trident. Nothing happens, except that
the Daemons do not seem amused in the least at this. The round Daemon
turns his head 180 degrees, and without turning around, advances on
Arlon/Merman, while two arms located on its back continue to hold off
Shade..

(Falrun:)
If Falrun can ever untangle himself from the bodies that continue to
come his way, he will yell to Arlon, "Throw me your staff that I may
wail upon the hides of these hideous creatures" considering that Arlon
now has the trident.

(Tatiana:)
Tatiana starts screaming "A WEAPON, a weapon, Some one give me a
weapon that can hurt these things. Daggers or Longswords preferable!
Quarterstaffs next"

OOC: I'll tell you this much - I'm buying the biggest best magic sword
     as soon as I can afford it!

(Tatiana:)
"A Weapon, Any weapon that's useful" she screamed.

(Tatiana:)
Keilan scrambled out the door, and Shade was telling everyone to
leave. Tatiana looked across the room to Arlon the merman with eyes of
regret.  She screamed "I can't help! I'm leaving as well!"

Tatiana ran towards the exit pausing to help anyone too wounded to
help themselves.  At the exit she paused waiting for the warriors to
close rank and follow her out.  She pulled out a tiny bag and a tiny
candle from her component pouch and started chanting.  A flash of
light appeared between the demons and the fleeing warriors.  Six
bipedal, frog-like amphibian creatures appeared.

Tatiana pointed at the Demons closest to her friends and shouted
"Attack"

Whether the Bullywugs understood her or not, they obeyed and hopped
forward to the attack without care to their livelihood.

To her friends running for the exit she said "That's all I can do
right now, you're on your own!" and she turned and left to alert
Mindak.

OOC: I rolled randomly on the Monster Summoning I chart and got
     Bullywug, then rolled 2d4 for the number that would show up and
     got 6.

(DM:)
Dithion and Shade fight the Lobsters who are beginning to emerge from
their 'enstonement', both swinging wildly, but hitting a few solid
hits, resulting in several bloody splotches on the Lobster Daemons'
scales. During this fiery exchange, Shade gets hit once for 10hpd,
ripping his shirt and giving him a gash across his chest, and Dithion
barely manages to escape harm.

Falrun, not having gotten any weapons yet with which to fight these
menaces, flees together with Kaeyar and Keilan, followed by Tatiana
after she summons six froglike creatures, commanding them to stop the
Daemons. Silver helps those of the fleeing who are wounded to rush
out.

Arlon stands there in merman form, shouting at the Daemons, but to no
avail.  The round Reptilian Daemon advances steadily on Arlon, claws
itching to strike.....

Those fleeing go through the corridor, and end up in the 'pool-room',
where an anxious Mindak stands. He looks very worried at all the
screaming and sounds of battle. As you guys come out, some of you
obviously wounded, he bolts away prattling.. "Hey *I* am no warrior,
*YOU* guys handle this.."

Before the last of you left, or to those still there, you saw that the
frog-men did not last long...... They bought you maybe two rounds of
reprieve.

What do you all do?

(DM:)
Just for those out there wondering. The passageway from the chamber to
the pool-room is not very wide.... Only one Daemon will fit at a
time....



So the party run away, leaving Arlon, Shade and Dithion to face the
wrath of the Daemons


(Arlon:)
OOC: ok here we go - the demons are not falling for my brilliant :)
     tactic - you can never trust a demon.

Arlon to Shade and Dithion:
"Get out! I still have an escape route."

(Dithion:)
Dithion will not leave the room, until everyone else has...he
continues to battle the daemons.

(Shade:)
With a last thrust at the daemon the drow tumbles away and sprints
down the corridor "C'mon Dithion - he yells to his friend - don't take
this question of the fool too seriously, get away. Arlon is able to
take care of himself and all the others are already out."

(Dithion:)
Dithion says, "I will retreat as soon as Arlon is out, these lobster
critters may be getting out soon, and I feel compelled to take
advantage of the fact that they are stuck."

He continues to pound the sh*t out of one of the lobster daemons with
his club.

(Shade:)
The drow is already sprinting down the corridor when he hears
Dithion's reply "Stubborn - he mutters, then, tilting his head to be
heard by his friend - do not be silly, Dithion, if your club is not
magical you are going to obtain nothing, and even if it is you'd
better come along to study a group tactic instead of endangering your
life alone..."

(Dithion:)
As Dithion exits the room, he calls to Shade, "This club must have
some enchantment...I beat a werewolf to death with it once."  He
continues out to the main room to the end of the corridor, and says
with a sigh, "Now we face all three, not just one and two trapped."
He waits for something to come out of the corridor after them.




And now, as Shade and Dithion run down the corridor, only Arlon is
left battling against the daemons ....


(Arlon:)
Arlon/merman points the trident at the daemon and says in ancient
mermanese "HOLD OR DIE!"

See you on the other side :).



Meanwhile, in the pool room ....


(Silver:)
Silver follows Keilan out of the small passageway into the room with
the pool (water still lowered, by the way). Quickly, Silver scans the
room and sees a fleeing Mindak. "Good, I don't want anyone else
getting hurt needlessly" she mutters.

Silver moves quickly to the first of the steps, near one of the
statues, and crouches down. Holding the unicorn-headed staff with both
hands, she seems to ignore what is going on around her, looking
instead at the staff intently.

OOC: Instead of healing, I will study Tier's staff and try to decipher
     any runes which indicate harm (a *lot* of harm). This will be
     done in a rush, so I may not be able to get anything, or try the
     wrong rune, or whatever, but I will make the attempt. (While
     praying to Mielikki for guidance of course ....)

(DM:)
Okay, on the staff. You note runes of healing and runes of harm all
over the staff. There appear to be rune strings in helixes, three
strings of harm, and three of healing. The harm ones come in three
potencies from low to high, and the healing ones on wounds, blindness
and insanity....

You figure out that you probably have to intone the rune strings to
activate the powers.  The rune strings are long, but only represent
single characters, so each phrase is not so long (one segment)....

From what you said, I will assume you will want to activate the
strongest harming helix-string... When you do so, the staff will begin
to glow a fiery red, emanating from the activated helix....

(Tatiana:)
She ran down the narrow cave entrance to the open secret door.

Seeing Mindak run away telling them to deal with the menace, she turns
to the survivors.  "Alright folks - Head Count Now!"

"I see Silver, Keilan, Kaeyar, and Falrun"

"Where's Arlon, Shade and Dithion?" she questioned as a look of horror
crossed her face.  "Who has a magical dagger or longsword that I may
use to hold these things off!  Give it to me now unless you are
exceptionally skilled and going to use it!"

"Those Bullywugs I conjured aren't going to last long, so we need to
utilize the time wisely"

She stepped back and started to cast a spell.  At its completion
multiple Tatiana's stood around the room.

(Silver:)
Disturbed from her concentration, she looks up to see multiple
versions of Tatiana standing around the room.

"Oh Wow ! 'Ana !" She stands, moves toward one of the figures, holding
her owl-headed staff in her other hand now. She starts to give it to
the Tatiana nearest her, but then looks confused at the others. "Will
one of you take this to the *real* 'Ana .... and tell her to take damn
good care of it !"

Meta: Whisper will know what the staff is, and Tatiana won't, so I'll
      not say exactly what it is. Whisper can take it into account in
      any melee.

(Tatiana:)
A Tatiana reaches out to accept the staff and a copy instantly appears
in all of the other Tatiana's hands.  She steps back admiring the
owl-headed staff and soon no one can remember which was the original
that had accepted the staff.

"Thank you very much Silver!  A level head in the group a last!  I
assume that I may used it in melee?"

Silver nodded her head yes but crouched back down concentrating

(Silver:)
When the staff is taken, (with appropriate reassurances for it's care)
Silver will crouch down once more, looking at the unicorn-headed
staff. It may seem strange that she is not healing any of the wounded
right now, but she does seem aware of the fact that some of the party
are hurt.

OOC: I am not healing straight away, since most of our fighters have
     been hurt by the creatures. I would simply be healing them to
     send them back to be hurt some more. If someone gets *really
     badly* hurt then I will attempt to heal them.

(Shade:)
Shade arrives in the pool room, looking back down the corridor.
Stopping as he enters the room, the drow shivers "Foul beasts indeed!
- then, an inattentive look at the gash on his chest - With sharp
nails too. Bah."

(Tatiana:)
The Tatiana's moved forward to the secret door's entrance to plug up
the demons exit as best she could.  And indeed it looked as if there
was no room for anyone else, but there was.  As the first one was seen
turning down the passage, all of the Tatiana's pointed their fingers
at the demon.  "It's worth another try at least"

A streak of bluish light zipped towards the demon

Then she took up a guard position ready to utilize the quarterstaff

OOC: Magic missile

(Falrun:)
If Shade offers his sword to someone to use, Falrun will answer,
"Shade, I will use Soulcrusher to fell these foul beasts if you are
too injured to continue.  I've had about enough of these awful things
anyway."

(Shade:)
Shade will give Soulcrusher (lsword +2) to Falrun. He would have
offered it to 'Ana first, but Tatiana has also magical powers besides
her fighting ability, and she also has got a staff from Silver. Plus,
I have got an idea to do some harm without my sword (yaz yaz ;)

(Falrun:)
Falrun thanks Shade for the use of Soulcrusher, with a slight bow.  He
then draws his short sword, to be used defensively in his left hand,
and prepares to meet the daemons at the entrance of the passageway.

(DM:)
Everyone is assembling in the 'pool room', first a hurt Keilan
followed by Kaeyar, Silver and Tatiana. Falrun stayed with the last
struggling ones, making sure all got out, except for those stubborn
ones (Shade and Dithion and Arlon) Shade and Dithion keep battling the
Daemons to give everyone chance to get out safely, while Arlon tries
to fool the Daemons into accepting his commands.

At the pool, Silver gives her staff to a now quadruple Tatiana, and
then Silver sits down on the steps to the water, leaning against a
statue, studying a strange staff, covered with runes all over. Then
suddenly Shade comes sprinting out of the secret passageway, looking
sweat drenched from the fighting, and bearing a new gash on his left
arm (6hpd, no other adverse effects), muttering assurances he gave the
Daemon his monies worth of wounds himself. Seeing Falrun still does
not have a magical weapon, Shade offers his magical blade to Falrun,
assuring with a wicked smile he will not need weapons to hurt these
vermin.

Then alien shouted words drift down the passage way (Arlon trying a
last ditch command), then suddenly Arlon appears out of thin air on
the steps near Silver.  "Hello!" Then he changes himself once more,
now into the form of the mermaid whose 'illusion' you saw in the
trident chamber. Arlon still carries his trident, and his form shifts
a bit more, to better resemble the image you only saw for such a short
time, trying to get as good a match as possible. All are now awaiting
the Daemons in the pool room except for Dithion.

Dithion finally begins to appear. You see his back coming towards you,
as he makes a fighting retreat through the passageway, followed
closely by the three Daemons who follow him in a row. Dithion is
fighting a Lobster that seems fairly damaged, as blackish blood seeps
from several cracks in the creatures' scales. However Dithion himself
also sustained heavy damage (another 12hpd from a hit to your leg,
half move and 2 pt penalty on AC), and is badly limping.

As his form clears the secret passageway, four streaks of bleuish
energy streak from Tatiana's hands, striking the creature in the
chest. Amazed that it effected it, you see the Lobster reel in pain,
however it keeps coming.

Falrun stands near the exit, ready to strike and Silver stands up,
ready with her new staff..

What do you all do?

(Silver:)
When the monsters arrive in the room, Silver stands once more, and
advances towards them.  She will attempt to hit the large insect
creature with the power of the staff. Not knowing whether she needs to
actually hit the monster with the staff or whether it works from a
distance, she will activate the staff with the phrase, pointing it at
the monster (and *not* at the party). If nothing happens then, she
will try to physically strike the creature with the staff.

(Dithion:)
Dithion steps back out of battle and begins to chant.  Suddenly, his
skin becomes ashy grey.  With that he hefts his club and lumbers
forward and re-engages the daemons....

(Falrun:)
After Dithion clears the mouth of the passage, Falrun will attempt to
block the advance of the daemon while still allowing as many
companions to get in their attacks as possible.

Calling to the party, he cries, "Let's keep them contained in the
passage so that we only have to fight one at a time!"  He then engages
the foul beast with a sneer on his lips and a fire in his eye.  "This
will be as far as YOU get," he mutters.

(Tatiana:)
After casting her spell, Tatiana cast one more and her slender muscles
became hard knotted cords of strength.

"I'm coming to help you Falrun" she said with a much huskier voice.

She assisted Falrun in stopping up the corridor exit using the owl
headed quarterstaff Silver had given her.

(DM:)
Falrun and Tatiana took over the fight with the Lobster Daemon to give
Dithion some breathing room to cast spells, so now the Daemon is held
out of the passageway, but still between the two basins.  This means
that those with staves could stand behind the sides of the basins, and
hit at the Daemons from the sides.

(Keilan:)
Keilan stands to the back of the party still clutching his left arm.

(Shade:)
The drow begins chanting softly and his body begins stirring and
becoming difficult to outline (blur), then, in voice so cracked and
grasping as nails on chalkboards he utters another darker incantation.

A wicked smile appears on his face when he observes the black energy
sparkling around his right hand: "Wow Dithion, this spell is really a
wonder (Vampiric touch) - he tilts his head toward the daemons - c'mon
boys let's see who is the best dancer."

He steps toward the melee carefully avoiding touching his companions.

(Silver:)
Silver is also approaching the tunnel entrance, holding her new staff
firmly but warily.  Her expression is grim - she is in unfamiliar
territory, and things could go quickly out of control.

"Guide me truly once more, Mielikki. I wish only to calm this
situation, restore the balance which has been sundered. As always, I
will strive not to waste your gifts. At the last, protect your
children from my failures."

She continues to advance, ready to strike with the staff, angling to
avoid other party members *at all costs*.