text: [Themes: fantasy, RPG, war, female protagonist, fantasy]
  
  Morning comes and Sebastian awakes quickly finding herself at the smith's doorstep. She waits until eight o' clock before knocking politely at the door. No answer. She knocks again and finally she hears, "I'm on my way, be patient!"
  
  Sebastian's heart leaps in her throat. She knew any Ogre Mage was dangerous but would he attack her or try to eat her? Would he even want to deal with her? Was the silver enough? She wasn't sure.
  
  The door opens and an old man looks at her, "Yeah, whadd'aya want?"
  
  Sebastian collelcts herself and says, "I need a ring to be forged. It is a special ring called a Hemlock Band. I hear that the master of this house is one who can forge such things. May I speak with him please?"
  
  The old man looks her up and down and says, "Yer speakin' to him!"
  
  Sebastian smiles, "Heh, well I had heard on good authority that he was a magical giant who cast spells."
  
  The old man chuckles, "Lemme guess, he also had horns, giant razor like teeth, blue skin, and tattoos?"
  
  Sebastian nodded though she herself wasn't sure. She just thought that he'd be hard to miss whatever his coloration or peculiarities were.
  
  "Lass, someone's been pulling yer' leg. However, I can forge this ring you want if'n you've got the coin."
  
  "I have thirty Silver."
  
  "Close, but not enough I need a hundred Silver Lass. Good day!" He begins to slam the door.
  
  "But sir, I need this ring, I've traveled all the way from Celika on behalf of my Lord to claim it. Failure is not an option."
  
  The old man looks Sebastian up and down before sighing, "Well, fine, come on in. We'll hash it out. But you'll have to do me a favor first before I agree to anything."
  
  "I am prepared," Sebastian says, "To do whatever you ask."
  
  "Goood... Goooood. Just step into my workshop girl and let me have a look at ye...'"
  
  [Author's Note: Sebastian has finally found the Smith. Now it is time to unravel his mystery and figure out how to obtain the Hemlock Band. Since this is the second part of (Part 3) The Hemlock Band it'll be more fun and make more sense if played after playing Part A.]
  
  > let Him Look at You
  The smith, heads to his workbench and slowly collects his spectacles. He then shuffles back to look Sebastian up and down, "Ahhh... let's see. Well, y'er no stranger to conflict. I see scars from conflicts and they look both old and new."
  
  He raises his fingers and touches her silver hair, "Well, yer' blessed with altered blood. I'm not thinking god-blood but divine nonetheless. I'm not sure if ye' ever experienced anything miraculous but it's in ye'. Perhaps a strong connection to a divine power. Mebbe an advanced healing rate, some of those cuts look deep. Maybe normal folk heal, maybe they don't but you did."
  
  He touches Bast's face, "And, ye've got a face ta' kill fer. Really sexy, though filled with pain and obviously sad. Ye've seen alot but ye keep kickin' and pluggin' away. I feels fer ye. I'll only charge ninety coins unless ye' wanna make it even cheaper lass..."
  
  "Take that cloak off. Yah' needn't it here,"
  
  > take off your Cloak
  Your cloak comes off, it flutters to the floor and you stand in your armor, tabard, and await his further inspection.
  
  "Yea' ye've got a fine form, na' cloak ta' cover yer form. Ye've a fightr's form. Now the price is only eighty coins, a right bargain! Now take off yer tabard. It gets in the way."
  
  > Sure,
  Sebastian takes off her tabard revealing her armor. It gleams like silver. Even with armor on, she's starting to feel uncomfortable, the old man's eyes scan her form and she feels as if he's staring past the metal and through her underclothes. Creepy.
  
  "Good lass, ye've been cooperative, seventy coins only! Now let that armor loose." He says, no longer disguising the predatory look in his eyes.
  
  > take off the Armor
  Sebastian fondles the straps and releases her armor, now only her clothing and underpadding remain. The old smith is licking his lips in anticipation, "Fifty coins! You know what comes next girl. Drop those clothes and you'll be earning a bargain on that ring. Won't cause you half the trouble and none of the coin. I can make this real easy or real hard."
  
  Sebastian is well aware that this lecherous old bastard has only nasty thoughts in his mind.
  
  > take off your Clothes...
  Sebastian swallows her pride and pulls off her underpadding setting it carefully on the table. Then, with a sickening feeling welling up in her gut, she pulls off her shirt followed by her pants. Off comes her brassiere and down goes her panties. Her pale body reveals beautiful curves and her pink nipples erect themselves in the tension filling the air. The old Smith approaches her and roughly grips her arms. He is immensely powerful and Sebastian, as strong as she is, could not even budge.
  
  "Let me go!" She snarls but the old man slaps her across the face and spins her around laying her across his bench. Sebastian feels him enter her and holds back the tears as he begins thrusting away. "How could I have been so fucking stupid?..." she thinks.
  
  About fifteen pebbles go slowly by as Sebastian is forcibly used by the old man in ways that make her feel degraded and sick. Then, finally he stops, moans, releases his fluids inside her, and then chuckles, "You'll do anything ta' save a couple a' coins. I likes that. We're gonna get along just fine. I like dirty little sluts like you."
  
  Sebastian feels like gagging and washing herself but the Smith walks to the back of the room, opens a drawer and pulls out a map. "Keep your all yer coin an' ye' jus' paid fer a free map. Foller' it an' ye'll find the stuff yew need in this cave. Watch out, there's critters in there, can bite you up good. Foller the map an ye'll get ta' meet the ogre directly. Do na' touch thee statue. It be a trap girl."
  
  Approaching Sebastian, he wrenches her head back with a fistful of hair and looks in her defiant eyes then licks her face and cups her breasts, "Now git a'fore I want yew a second time."
  
  > The Easy Route
  Thanks to the map, Sebastian is able to take a back route to the cave with the components inside. This is because the map has a secret pathway through the hills that leads directly to the side of the cave. She feels alot less grimy when she realizes all of the trouble she has avoided.
  
  Sebastian finishes her ride as the dark of midnight brings accumulating clouds over the moon. She shakes her head, how dramatic. She presses onwards and enters the mouth of the small cave that yawns before her, beckoning her, warning her.
  
  She brought up her crossbow, it had proved it's usefulness even though she preferred hand to hand combat. She'd try to get off at least one clear shot before she devolved into combat face to face. It was the smart thing to do and she was a pragmatist at heart even though some part of her told her honor was lost when using the contraption.
  
  > check your map
  You check your map... It tells you to go forwards into the cave for awhile and eventually head south. You pass by several other rooms until you find your way into a place you probably might not have found if you weren't using the map.
  
  The map says to go south and keep going...
  
  > go South
  Sebastian descends down a deep slope to what looks like a depression to Sebastian's right, ahead, she sees a cave opening. The sound of something huge snoring, gasping, or just breathing heavily lies in the path forward. Sebastian had a talent with the dark but not far enough to determine what the creature that lurked beyond was.
  
  She thought quickly about her choices:
  
  > enter the Depression to her Right
  Sebastian chooses to enter the depression to the south and to her right. The pit is filled with mud and gook. It does not smell pleasant and could quite possibly be used as a excrement pit. the bones of many creatures both animal like; boar, horse, dog, and goat intermingle with bones that are more decidedly humanoid; goblin, hobgoblin, and human. This is not a good sign by any means.
  
  However, despite the foulness of the pit, perhaps there is something of value in the cesspool. It might be an agonizing swim in shit but it might bear 'fruit'...
  
  > head back North
  Forging Ahead, Sebastian follows a natural corridor leftwards that soon arcs gently rightward. the corridor is cool and has dripping moisture that has accumulated on the ceiling. The puddles on the floor are covered with moss and the sides have semi-lucent lichens sticking to them glowing somewhat softly.
  
  Sebastian has seen things like this before and clutches her crossbow awaiting danger.
  
  She finds none by the time the corridor splits. She hears grunting and snuffling noises to the South and other noises to the East, like wind blowing through the tunnels. A sign that she is near an exit.
  
  > go East
  To the East is a small statute of a six-armed creature that looks like a leering ogre with three heads, one of a serpent, one of a goat, and one of an ogre. In each of it's eye sockets is a gemstone. Two green in the serpent, two red in the serpent, and two gold in the ogre. The statute is only a foot high and could easily fit in Sebastian's purse.
  
  Around the stature are literally hundreds of bones that look bleached, scorched, broken, scarred, and otherwise mangled.
  
  There are a variety of holes in the walls and floor and this has every indication of being a death trap. The room smells as if every nature of flame, burning thing, acid, gas, poison, and awful thing anyone couldthing of was placed in one room to guard this small little stature.
  
  Sebastian is pretty lucky, perhaps she can succeed where others failed?
  
  > snatch the Statue and loot it later!
  Touching the statue's body causes Sebastian to reel from an acute poison, she staggers several feet and watches her hand begin to turn black! The pain is crippling and she desperately tries to put a tourniquet around her hand. She is not in time as the poison causes her to shake uncontrollably and she falls convulsing into the piles of scorched skeletons below her feet. She is dead before she hits the ground.