[ZONE 2]

JAMES: ...Twins, yes, so it seems. Seeing you, a great number of things suddenly seem crystal clear to me.

What is your association with the Mockers in Krondor?

LYSLE: What do you mean? I don't...

JAMES: Stop the idiot act, Lysle. I know you have something to do with the Mockers in Krondor. A few months ago, I was abducted by a band of cutthroats dressed as Nighthawks while I was investigating a rumor in the sewers. At the time I thought they had abducted me because I was close to Arutha, but that wasn't the case at all, was it?

LYSLE: That must mean things have gotten even worse than the Upright Man imagined. When he sent word for me in Kesh...

JAMES: Excuse me...did you say Kesh, as in the Great Empire Of?

LYSLE: You of all people should know that the Upright Man has contacts everywhere, including under the Empress' nose. He couldn't very well operate the single most powerful guild in Midkemia without them. But as I w as saying - he sent for me in Kesh and asked for me to take a boat into Silden and check on a group of thieves who operated there. I can't really say more, but I confirmed the Upright Man's suspicions. If you should get to Krondor before I do, tell one of the thieves - a boy named Limm - that I think the Upright Man's right, though I am quite positive now that the Crawler is not Jocko Radburn. He should give you a reward for the information.

JAMES: If there is something in the offing that threatens the Prince...

LYSLE: Don't worry your head. The Nighthawks in Krondor were likely sent into Krondor to kill the Upright Man after I fumbled up matters investigating in Silden, not go after Arutha. This Crawler fellow that's running the new thieve's guild is determined to expand his empire, but he's been busy infiltrating other guilds. He's the shadow prince behind half a dozen, most notably the new Guild of the Romney. He's also training his men in magic...

JAMES: A whole band of thieves trained as magicians? I don't like the sound of it at all.

LYSLE: Neither do I, though for much different reasons. I'm still working on finding out who's training them. Last trail I followed, I heard word that someone in Lyton wished to buy glory hands - magic artifacts I had heard something about. I found this skeletal hand near Sethanon and I sold it to a fellow in Lyton named Glover. I figured if they were magicians, they'd spot the substitution and perhaps I would have a lead.

JAMES: But they bought it from you and killed your lead. How did you find the skeletal hand?

LYSLE: You'll probably find this a bit distasteful, but...I was going to dig up somebody from the Sethanon graveyard and just borrow a hand. Since that part of the world has been deserted for quite some time, I thought it would be my best bet to find what I needed without getting caught.

Fortunately, some old ghoul saved me the trouble. I have no idea what this fellow was up to with the corpse, but he was dragging it through this field like he was headed to the graveyard. At one point he apparently got tired or thirsty and left the body for a bit and I went over to liberate this dead man of his hand, but before I could finish, the old man came back. Since I nearly had the hand off, I came back the next day to see if it had wiggled loose in the transport...

JAMES: And so you found it and sold it to Glover in Lyton.

LYSLE: Just so, but my troubles didn't end there. There were a few men in Lyton who recognized me, apparently men working for the Crawler. Seems that he's issued a death token on my head after I was spotted in Silden. So, since then, I've been lying low.

JAMES: Understandable... Someday, if we should meet again, I would like to talk to you some more. Find out more about where you came from.

LYSLE: You mean, find out if we're brothers? It's not likely. I was born in Tulan and only came to Krondor about three years ago when the Upright Man sent for me. I was never sure why he sent for me, but apparently he had heard of me. But, he is odd that way. I doubt I'll ever understand the way his mind works.

JAMES: That makes two of us. Thank you for this talk at least, Lysle. You've been quite a help to us and it's been interesting seeing how others see me. I hope we can meet again.

The man walked over to join them. He stood before them, eyebrows arched inquisitively.

LYSLE: Hello, Seigneur James. What brings you back here?

JAMES: We came back to check on where you sold the skeletal hand that you found near Sethanon. Did you say you sold it to some one named Glover in Lyton?

LYSLE: That I did.

JAMES: I just wanted to check again before I went and made a fool of myself. Thanks again, Lysle.