This is Estelrath Tancred, a slave..merchant,
He is currently waiting for his selec-
tion of slaves to be prepared for the drive to
market, and is getting bored with the delay.
Beneath his cloak he wears chain mail and a
long sword. He will be willing to listen to
the party, believing them to be mercenaries
until they prove by ignorance to be otherwise.
Then he will waste time until his 2
guards return from the kitchen with the <link>
meal he ordered.

Estelrath‘s 2 guards are a pair of cavelings <link>
created especially for him by Markessa,
the director of this slaving operation. The
two cavelings were once olvenfolk, but no
longer bear any resemblance to that <species>.
They are called Cari and Filch, and respond
only to Estelrath‘s simple verbal commands.
Both have gray scaly hides, which gives
them a 90% chance to hide in shadows naturally.
They have large, bulbous eyes, infravision
to 90 feet, and clawed, padded feet
with which they may climb like cats and
move silently with an 80% chance of success.
Thus, they surprise on a roll of 1-5 on
1d6.

Cari and Filch return 5 rounds after the
party enters the room. If the door is closed
they listen at the door first. Then they
knock and Cari will hide beside the door
while Filch tries to draw the intruders out of
the room. Neither can talk.

Estelrath has a leather chest under his
bed. In the chest are 600 gp, 20 pp, and 5
amethysts worth 50 gp each. There are also
papers detailing the slave route and these
can be used to lead the party to the next
stage of the adventure. On the desk, where <link>
Estelrath was working, is a thin wand of
wood. This is a springerie or a wand of
opening. When struck against a locked or
bound object the object will be opened, similar
to the effect of a knock spell. The wand
has 12 charges left.

Both Cari and Filch wear loin cloths and
belts, but nothing else.

Estelrath Tancred: <AC 5; MV 9"; Swashbuckler; hp 29; <alternate: 5th level merchant>
#AT 2; D 1-8+3 by military fork>
THACO 13
XP 349

Cari: AC 6; MV 15"; HD 2; hp 17; #AT 2;
D <1-6 by long bow> and 2-7; S 16, I 4, W 4, D 16,
Con 16, Cha 5
THACO 16
XP 62

Cari has enlarged hands and a tail with a
stinger (save vs. Poison or START to itch).
Characters itching are unable to CAST spells
and fight at -2 to hit. Cari’s favorite tactic is
to sneak up on a character and trip him or
her with a successful to hit roll at +4. and
then sting the character at +4 to hit.

Filch: AC 6; MV 15"; HD 2; hp 9; #AT 2;
D <1-4 by dagger>; S12, I 15, W 4; D 16; Con 11,
Cha 4
THACO 16
XP 46
Filch has a prehensile, gripping tail and
long thin fingers with which he can pick
pockets with a 75% chance of success. Filch
also likes to attack from behind at +4 to hit,
if attacking with surprise. Filchs favorite
tactic is to jump on the back of his victim
and lock his legs around the character’s
chest. Then he stabs the character with 2
daggers, 1 held in his hand, the other in
his tail.
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>>32.