and the elite soldiers who enforced his words, the citizens of Sanctuarygenerally felt the military governor's quest to clean up the worse hellhole inthe Empire was stupid, while the Hell Hounds were simply devilishly efficient.In a town where one was forced to live by wit as often as skill, efficiencycould be grudgingly admired, while stupidity, particularly stupidity with power,could only be despised.

No, the Hell Hounds weren't stupid. Tough, excellent swordsmen and seasonedveterans, they seldom set foot in the Maze, and never entered the VulgarUnicorn. On the west side of town, it was said that one only came here if he wasseeking death ... or selling it. While the statement was somewhat exaggerated,it was true that most of the people who frequented the Maze either had nothingto lose or were willing to risk everything for what they might gain there. Asrational men, the Hell Hounds were unlikely to put in an appearance at theMaze's most notorious tavern.

Still, the point remained that the Vulgar Unicorn sorely needed One-Thumb'spresence and that his return was long overdue. In part, that was why Hakiem wasspending so much time here of late: hope of acquiring the story of One-Thumb'sreturn and possibly the story of his absence. That alone Would be enough to keepthe storyteller haunting the tavern, but the stories he gained during his waitwere a prize in themselves. Hakiem was a compulsive collector of stories, fromhabit as well as by profession, and many stories had their beginnings, middles,or ends within these walls. He collected them all, though he knew that most ofthem could not be repeated, for he knew the value of a story is in its merit,not in its saleability.

SPIDERS OF THE PURPLE MAGE by Philip Jose Farmer

1

This was the week of the great rat hunt in Sanctuary.