Silus looks more than a little amazed that the stunt actually worked:

"Halleluljah!" he exclaims, "my Lord is with us."

"Now we should find our weapon...or attack quickly while they in stupor", said Krige to Silus and Ullar. "Do you have dagger or something?", then he asked Antonio.

Silus whispers to Ullar and Krige:

"Quick, try and take out the Genoans and take their weapons. I'll try and confuse them even more. Hopefully the Africans won't know what's going on."

He then shouts over to the Genoans:

"Take that man," Silus says pointing at Antonio. "I am an undercover agent working for the Bishop. We thought he was a traitor to the cause and his freeing known enemies of the Church have proved his guilt beyong doubt. Seize him and help me take him to the Bishop now."

Ullar makes a move towards Antonio, but waits when he hears the words of Silus. "A bold move" he thinks to himself, with a faint smile on his face. Slowly the warrior backs away, heading towards any torturing device which he could use to defend himself.

There are several irons, wicked knives (not terribly effective for combat), whips, things of that nature. Nothing specifically designed for combat.

As Antonio comes to his senses, he blanches at what he has done, leaving a long enough gap for Silus to say what he has to say. Then, amazingly, Silus' power of persuasion is proven once again, this time without any magical assistance. The two Genoese look toward the estate where the Bishop surely will return, then drop their crossbows back to their belts and leap upon the stunned Antonio, who weakly claims "But you work for ME!" They quickly bind him, ignoring his comments, and look to Silus for instructions. Meanwhile, the implacable Africans still stand without acting. They appear to be very interested in the proceedings. Antonio looks at them "Protect me!" But they merely stand and watch him. The largest of them grins widely at Silus and his companions.

As all this is going on, all three of you hear the faint sound of hooves growing louder, and you hear someone outside yelling for the Bishop, who answers, throwing fear into you, from right outside the barn. His voice grows slightly less, leading you to believe he has approached the rider, but surely he will not be involved with that for long. Meanwhile, the Genoese both look very nervously at Silus for further instructions. They seem very unsure of themselves.

Ullar graps his gear and readies his weapon. He then makes a gesture towards the African guards. He stands in front of the largest of the three, and points at his chest. "Me.. Ullar". "You?"

The African's smile widens, and he whispers in a deep baritone "Juma me. Much mojo got you. We no speak so hat man no put mojo on us. Way out know I, if quick." He points toward the stretching rack, then resumes his implacability, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't understand Ullar.

After the short conversation with the guard, Ullar heads towards the door. "Silus, tell them to gag Antonio, for I don't want him to be able to talk!"

"I'll take a position behind the door. If it opens, and the Bishop steps in, I'll smash it the door back, closing it and I will lunge towards that evil man. I hope that fortune is with me today, for we'll have to take that Bishop down before he starts making those funny moves with his hands while chanting."

The Genoese look very warily toward Ullar's conversation with Silus. They are obviously very nervous, wondering whether they made the right decision.

Silus turns to the Genoese once again, silently thanking his god for his continued assistance:

"The Bishop's a very busy man at the moment and isn't going to want to spend too long with the traitor," Silus said to them. "Help the Bishop out by putting de Medici in the iron maiden. I'm sure that the Bishop will be delighted by the great assistance that you have provided to me in this matter."

"Well what are you waiting for?" he scowled. "Just do it!"

The Genoese seems about to crack from the pressure, but once again concede to Silus' wishes, moving awkwardly to place Antonio within the spiked contraption.

He then turned back to Ullar and Krige:

"You two come with me to the door so that we can tell the Bishop about de Medici's treachery as soon as he comes in."

Krige follows Silus careful watching at Genoeses and Medici.

Silus whispered to them quietly:

"Stand by the door. As soon as the Bishop comes through it, then knock him to the ground and overpower him. He shouldn't be expecting that we have got free and so we should have the element of surprise. Make sure that you grab his hands immediately so that he is unable to cast any spells. If we can do this, then we can take him hostage and barter our lives for his."

"If my Lord is willing, we may have a chance of escaping here with our lives after all."

"Ok," - whispered Krige in answer. Then he moves to the door, and stands near it.

Seeing their actions, Juma speaks once again, breaking his cover slightly, "No! Mojo!" He then gestures urgently once again at the stretching rack.

Silus looks to Ullar:

"Ullar, is there any way that you could take a look at the stretching rack to find out what our black brutha is talking about? I'd do it myself, but I can't move very well with this accursed foot."

"Sure!" replies the warrior. Ullar looks at Juma, points at the rack and moves towards it. "Juma, do I need to pull it? Or push it? Or twist it" says Ullar, while making the the same movements of pulling, pushing and twisting with his hands and arms.

Ullar tries to get some movement in the rack, but has hopefull glance at Juma for help.

Looking at the Genoese, who are beginning to look very suspiciously at the three of you, beginning to pick up on their being fooled, Juma says nothing, merely stands.

However, Ullar has no trouble figuring out the rack, which moves upward with very little more than a tug, revealing a tunnel straight down with rungs attached to the side.

He then turns to Krige and whispers:

"It sounds as if there might be a way out underneath the rack, if I can understand the African well. Do you think that you could find some way of blocking the door if this proves to be so? We'll need to stop the Bishop from getting in here until we have been able to make our escape."

"Ok! I will try" answered Krige and begins to look for something that can block the door. Unfortunately, he has no time, as when Ullar opens the tunnel, the Genoese realize they have been duped and release Antonio, untying him and giving you all precious time to make your escape. Immediately as Antonio is released, you hear a voice from outside shouting, "Bishop, the group has gone underground! We've found them!" As Antonio and the Genoese turn their attention away from you, Krige yanks Silus over toward the tunnel, which Ullar has already begun climbing down. Silus is dropped gently down by Krige, who follows him up with some speed. As he comes in, he sees one of the Genoese rushing at him with a thrusting sword. Krige quickly drags the rack down on top of him and hears the blade impact it. The rack clicks as it comes down, which you hope is some kind of lock, and you all three begin swarming down the rungs as quickly as you can manage. Ullar must partially support Silus, who is climbing with one foot and his arms, and wearing down quickly, obviously not used to such effort. Also, the blood from his injured foot keeps dripping down onto Ullar's head, which is somewhat disgusting. The ex-gladiator takes it in stride, though, and rather quickly you all reach the end of the tunnel. It appears that either the men above have not been able to get in, or they are waiting for orders to do so, but for the moment, the three of you begin crawling on hands and knees down the tunnel.

Ullar lights his lantern to see where you are going, but sees only the unmarked tunnel ahead. As none of you had your proper bearings when you descended, you have no idea in which direction you are headed now. The tunnel goes on for some distance before it intersects with another tunnel straight up, strewn with rungs as well. As all three of you are able to hear some shouting and banging coming from the top, you decide this is not an appealing option, and continue down the tunnel, which all three of you have to crawl through, particularly Ullar, eliciting painful moans from Silus' injured foot. After another long crawl, you see that some sort of opening exists ahead, and it appears to be crammed with people, several of whom you immediately recognize as your erstwhile companions.

Reunification at last!