# Terrace and the rise of Evil



## akira1 (Jul 16, 2008)

Hello all,

I have a few points to make before I post the contents of a couple years worth of role playing with a group in my home brewed world of Terrace.   

Criticism:  I expect it and would like to hear it all, the good and the bad,  I am doing this so  that I can improve my writing and storytelling styles.

System:  It is a heavily modified DnD 3.5 system that is barely even DnD.  

Questions:  I will accept any and even try to answer them.

Originality:  I freely admit that If I saw something cool here or elsewhere I took it and modified or took it and used whole cloth as I saw fit in my campaign.

Final Point:  This campaign has been over for almost a year and I was revising the system for a final go when I came across these stories for the game that I had wrote. This is the first post detailing the first session of the players.  I will try to post the rest as I have time with some sort of regularity.  These are all long posts so be forewarned.


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## akira1 (Jul 16, 2008)

*Post 1*

( In an open forum on the dynamics of Human interaction, Dr. Zhindzhe expressed the following points concerning the phenomenon known as "adventurers".) 

Z: Good evening everyone. I am Dr. Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe. I am the chair of the Department of Psychology and paranormal activity at the University of Ashur in the Domains of Malekith. I have a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and I am happy to be here. 
[Applause] 
Z: In my time I have had the honor and the priveledge to interview and assess an abundance of different individuals on the natures of their people and customs. No subset of people have intrigued me more than the often worldshaking titans that collectively refer to themselves as "Adventurers". These people stand as Colossi down the corridors of our history. After all who could forget that Our dread Ruler, the Lich King, began as a memeber of this august subset. That being said, I will now open the floor up to questions. 
G1:  Dr Zhindzhe, I loved your disertation on the Cognitive Factors that influence the formation of deviant behaviors in Orcs.   
Z: Thank you.  What is your question. 
G1: Well, how do these adventurers as you call them form their adventuring groups? I have seen some of your peers attempt to tackle this question and they have listed things as mundane as these people being born in the same village and all deciding to leave it at the same time.. 
[laughter from the audience] 
G1: to these people being marked through history and their birth being heralded through time. 
[laughter from the audience] 
G1:  What is your take on the formation of the Adventuring Party? 
Z: Thank you. Well my take on the adventuring party is a little less esoteric than the birth theory and a little more logical than the everyone living in the same village theory. It is my supposition that Adventurers are marked out from the normal run of the mill person by their own determination to rise above the odds around them. For example history is replete with seemingly common people rising to the ranks of Adventurerdom. It is well known that our Lich Kings right hand man, The Cold Rider, was at the time that they met a simple peasant but was influenced by the drive our Lich King possessed and decided that this was the life for him. 
G1:  So you are saying that these Adventurers, are just ordinary people that are influenced by an outside source? 
Z: Only partially. They are ordinary people but the force that propels them to adventuredom is internal. They have to consciously make the decision to give up their normal life for the often dangerous life of an Adventurer. 
G1:  Thank you Dr Zhindzhe. 
Z: Your welcome.   
G2: Dr Zhindzhe, while what you have proposed is interesting, I am of the Scool of Psichic Constructionism. In our school of thought it is believed that these things are predetermined and the Adventurers as it were actually have no choice but to adventurer. 
Z: Excuse me if I do not share your enthusiasm for the 'destined to be an adventurer model'. I believe that people have choice in who they meet and when and these things are not determined before the person is even born by some cosmic entity, a Cosmic Dungeonmaster as it were, that manipulates and directs things in a set pattern by drawing these people everonward with a series of "adventure hooks". 
G2: Could you explain your way of thinking then.   
Z: Of course. The best way is to explain this though is through a case study i did a while back on the nature of the formation of the classical adventuring party. 
G2:  A classical adventuring party? 
Z: Yes. Adventuring parties, have certain common elements. Either through design or happenstance, a certain combination of individuals have foemed the most effective groups and overtime this has become the custom amongst the Adventurer Subset. This party template usually includes a Melee fighter of some sort, A roguish type with the ability to find and disarm traps, A Divine spellcaster of some sort and usually an Arcane Caster or a Psion. There also tend to be at times additional party members. usually of the fighter types or an additional spellcaster arcane or divine. 
G2:  That makes a certain amount of sense I suppose but what about your theory.  
Z: Of course my theory. Well let me explain this by using an old case study I was conducting on a group of Adventurers. These adventurers consented to cognitive examination and the results were impressive to say the least. Could the master of ceremonies please activate the projection orb please. 
[The Audience quiets at this point as the room darkens and the Projection orb begins todisplay the case study Information] 

Clinical Examination of Adventurers 
Section 1: Formation of Adventuring Parties 
The information used in this document was gathered by collateral documents from several establishments within the city state of Rath and a first hand interview with Kalanaghar, Damien, and Ivanor potential adventurers. Since this was a group session, the free form approach of Dr Ilesian was used to facilitate this session. 

Z: Good evening Gentlemen.  We meet again.  I hope that we can reach an accommodation that will be pleasing to us all. 
K: Yeah what are you wanting to know.   
Z: Well lets start from the beginning.  What got you started on the road to adventuredom. 
(Clinicians note: There was a long pause here as everyone involved seemed to be recalling their exact motivations for becoming adventurers. Ivanor seemed distracted by this question while Damien almost seemed to relish the thought of finding out something new about his companions.) 
D:  I left because I wanted to.  The trees were nice and all but I had to get out of A'Telmandor.   
Z: You left your ancestral homeland alone and on an impulse..thats a big step to take for someone who is not very familiar with the ways of the world. Was there more that motivated you perhaps some other need perhaps that required that you leave the safety and convenience of your home for the dangerous world around you? 
D: Not really. I just wanted to do it. I was not alone either. I was with Kalanaghar. We have known each other since our days in the Swordmaster Academy. 
Z: I see so with the two of you together it was easier to break the ties of home and family and journey out into the unknown.   
K:  I wouldn't put it like that.  It was more like I was tired of the crap at home and decided to do something about it.   
D;  yeah thats more to it and we both knew that our survival chances would increase if we had a companion to aid us. 
K:  I see so you decided that it would be mutually beneficial to leave your home for the world at large. 
D:  That about sums it up. 
K: Yeah. 
Z:  did this prove advantageous? 
K: Oh yeah.  We got attacked by Diabolist Goblins. 
K: yeah they were really no match for us. We surprised them and I chopped a couple of them up before the rest even knew what was going on. 
D:  yeah i gutted one good. 
(Damien makes a stabbing motion at this point) 
K:  then things started to go wrong. 
Z: What do you mean. 
D;  Well I kinda got knocked out by a shot put. 
K:  I fought on while he was down and took out 6 more of them. 
D:  No you didn't.  We only got experience for 4 of them. 
K:  I mean three of them. 
Z:  SO what happened did they capture you? 
K:  yeah they took us to their camp where they were having some sort of celebration and we broke out and left.   
D; yeah we met this Ghouled guy there named Kelphos Nocturn and he sent us to Rath with a message to be delivered to Elvira at the Devils Cup. 
K:  Oh yeah we hired the Beaters. 
D:  the beaters rock. 
Z: What are "beaters". 
K: well the city is so large that its hard to travel from side to side. So the main forms of transport are float discs, howdahs, chariots, the teleportation jump points, 
D:  Those were really expensive. 
K: yeah and the beaters. 
Z:  Ok.... 
D: The Beaters are hired muscle basically that are armed with clubs that beat a path through the crowds for you. Not as fast as the Jump Points but definitely more fun. 
(They share a laugh at this point) 
D:  As we were going through we passed the Thane's temple complex and saw that he was building a new temple. 
Z;  I see does this seem important to you? 
D: (Shrugs) 
K:  Oh yeah his priestesses all female, bald and naked from the waist up 
D:  with piercings in their stomachs and breasts, I could learn to love that religion.. 
(Again they laugh about some shared joke) 
Z:  Alright that explains you two but Ivanor what about you? 
(Clinicians note: Ivanor still seems to be wrestling with some internal struggle relating to the topics we were discussing. He stopped and stared at this clinician darkly before answering.) 
I: I left and began my life as an adventurer, due to wanting to experience the fullness of my gods faith. The church in Rath offers a variety of different experiences that could not be found in the church in the Necropolis. 
Z: I see.  Would those experiences include a tavern called The Vulgar unicorn? 
(Clinicians note: All parties involved became distinctly embarrassed at the mention of this tavern located in District 10 in the City State of Rath.) 
I:  Well, uhhhh 
Z: What sort of establishment is this. It is documented that you espescially Ivanor seem to spend a lot of time there, at least twice a week with a Transvestite Troll prostitute named Samantha or more commonly Sam. 
I: Uhhhhhhh 
D:  A tranny huh. 
K:  LOL 
(Clinicians Note: Ivanor with an effort of supreme will regained control of himself and then looked coolly at his friends before continuing.) 
I: My actions are my own but if you must know, I was research the disappearance of one of the priestess of our church and she had also frequently seen Sam... 
D:  Kinky.  I wonder if a troll prostitute regenerates back from STD's. 
K:  Can I join the Church of Cambion? 
I:  (Narrows eyes)  To help him in his RELIGIOUS OBSERVATIONS!!! 
Z: I see so she was out preaching to the down trodden. 
I: So to speak. According to Sam, Alaria came to see him twice week at his request and did prayers and offered him the sacrament of the sleeping. 
(Clears throat and glares at friends again) 
Z: Well that explains your interest in this place.  I assume you have continued Alaria's missionary work? 
I: Yes. 
K:  Seriously, can I join the Church of Cambion? 
I: Shut up. 
Z: Alright gentlemen. It would seem that you Kalanaghar and Damien are not totally upstanding characters either. I have an eye witness account of some rather interesting behaviors that were exhibited by you both. I assume you remember the days preceding the Beginning of the Carnival of Sins. A certain priestess of Yvonnel, the goddess of Lust and desire, was staying in your tavern, The Devil's Cup. 
K:  Yeah.... 
D:  We were not responsible for our actions at that time.  The priestess drugged us. 
Z: Everyone knows that the Priestess of Desire drug everything, but you willingly partook of what they offered. here is an account of Kalanaghar asking if he could sit on the Priest of Xiloscient's, the god of Sado Masochism, back. 
K: I that was ... 
D: (snicker) What was that Kalanaghar? 
Z: According to collateral documentation, this was when you guys were being offered a seat by Amora, prior to drinking the drugged wine. 
K:  What! who said that. 
Z: (flips through several reports)  Apparently the head barmaid, Iris, reported that she had observed this from the kitchens.   
K:  (eyes widen in shock) The hateful harridan.  She is obviously upset at me.   
Z:  Why would you say that. 
K: Well from the minute we walked in there and I flashed her my gold, she was all gushy eyed and making come on attempts. But she is just a barmaid after all in a second rate tavern, she never really would have gotten from me what she wanted. 
D: (snicker) Thats right the knives she carried and the challenging stance that confronted everyone with was the perfect come on. 
I:  Well now thats something to consider. 
K: (a little flustered) I'm telling the truth, she wants me and now that she knows she cant have shes gone all desperate housewives on me. 
Z: What? 
K: Never mind. 
Z: Ok, It would appear that you arrival was also not without a certain amount of Drama Ivanor. 
I:  We of the Church of Cambion do not believe in wild emotion. 
Z:  I see. So what happened that got you banished from your church for a month. 
I:  It was not official or anything. 
Z: Of Course, you simply were not allowed to perform any church functions nor display your faith. 
D:  could I go to the bathroom? 
Z:  Of course its outside on the right. 
(Door opens and closes as Damien goes to the bathroom) 
I: Well it all started after I got there. I met my church hierarchy and they explained that The Cusp had requested to serve as my mentor. 
Z:  The Cusp? 
K:  Sounds like a Sith Lord to me. 
(Baffled looks from me Ivanor seemed to know what this "Sith Lord" was and they both laughed for several moments saying ," Yes my master" back and forth to each other) 
I: Ahem, well the Cusp is a very different sort of Priest for my deity. he lives in the crypts out in the graveyard that my church oversees. He provided me with several leads and some money. you know normal mentor stuff. 
Z: Go on. 
I: Well on a couple of my routine patrols of the holy cemetery, I came across evidence that there were more bodies in there than the registry listed. 
K:  Uh oh its about to get good. 
(At this point Damien returns and states, "hey I brought another Dr Pepper did anyone else want one?" When no one responded he shrugged and sat back down.) 
(Clinicians note:  Get an exact definition of a Sith Lord, a Dr Pepper and what they do) 
I: well long story short, Aminopichtelay, the Chapel Templar had something to do with the extra bodies and he and I reached a mutually beneficial agreement regarding this. 
D; Such as  
I:  Lets just say, he did not decide to run me through with his scythe and I decided not to bleed on his scythe if he did that. 
D: Smart man. 
I: Anyway, Through further investigation I found out that our church had a Dreaming Oracle in attendance as well and that attempts had been made on her life. Apparently the Dead Hierarch of the church, Bhutakken, also knew of this and he showed up as I noticed the creature at the window. 
Z: A creature at a window...describe this please. 
I: Well it seemed to be made completely of night and it had gashes where it would have had eyes and blue smoke leaked from these gashes. Bhutakken said he did not know what it was but whatever it was it was not affected by any interventions he had placed to ward the Dreaming Oracle. 
D:  I am noticing a trend for creepy people in Rath. 
K: No doubt there was that guy in the alley and then there was the Disciple. 
I:  you guys met the Disciple also. 
K: Well Damien did he made me wait outside in the hallway. 
D; Yeah this guy was a piece of work. He has a nice office in the back of the Vulgar Unicorn. Apparently theres another hallway down there thats barred by a steel door and then theres this hallway full of offices. 
(Ivanor blushes at this description) 
D: (after looking slyly at Ivanor) Anyway The Disciple has his name in gold on his door and inside is this posh posh office. He sat there and then explained to me the Underworld and how it works. 
Z: like what? 
D:  If i tell you i will have to kill you. 
Z: (clears throat)I see, go on then what was so creepy about him. 
D: Maybe it was the extra long fingers the guy had or the red glints that came into his eyes from time to time. Or the way his shadow did not exactly conform to his movements, but what really got me was that he works for some guy called "The Demon". 
K: Really!  Do you think its a real demon. 
(Clinicians note:  Ivanor gets a sick look at the revelation of the Disciples Boss) 
K;  Whats that look for Ivanor?  You look like you just lost your soul to the powers of Hel. 
I:  I don't want to talk about it. 
K: (Shrugs) Ok. Well besides the demon we met a bizarre assortment of store clerks. 
D:  Fendril was different huh.   
Z: How do you mean.   
D:  Lets just say he may have had a little sugar in his tank. 
Z:  A "little sugar in his tank"!? 
D:  His favorite color is probably Rainbow..... 
Z:  I am not understanding.   
K:  LOL Anyway he was a jumpy sort and seemed to talk a lot.   
I:  Not like Gandalf. 
K: From LOTR!! 
D:  Did he have dildo, I mean Frodo with him? 
(Clinicians Note:  These colloquial saying that are spoken by Adventurers will be looked into in another time)        
I:  He was inside of a poster. 
Z:  He was ....inside of a poster!? 
I:  yeah it was an advertisement for some place called the Portable Hole. 
It is a raver club that moves and to access it you touch the poster and get sucked into...another dimension where gandalf mystically imparts the direction to the next location of the portable hole. Gandalf rose up out of the starry universe that was surrounding me, it contracted and pulsed with a kind of mind numbing monotony and there were brilliant color flashes off in the distance. He said they serve the best drinks, including Cthulu tequila, and have the best light shows and dance music. 
D:  Did you see any psychedelic flowers and flying elephants during this mighty Lord of Death? 
I:  Actually I did. 
D: (Snicker) 
I: What so funny. 
K: Nothing Ivanor. LOL 
D:  Ever been on a "Trip" before Ivanor? LOL!! 
K: LOL 
Z:  That is the topic of this session gentlemen... 
D and K:  LOL!!! 
(It took several minutes before these two stopped laughing about trips.) 
I:  Could you guys stay in character so we can finish this please! 
Z:  (Baffled look) In character...... 
D: Alright so we met this Guy named Rat and his Drow buddy El'Tari at the Devil's Cup. Apparently they wanted to hire us to steal a list of names from a rival of theirs some guy name Paeter Amorines. 
K:  yeah we agreed to do this and thats when Our session ended. 
Z:  (wondering what a session is) I see. 
I: Well mine went on a little longer. Apparently there is a Diabolist cult that is behind the kidnappings i mentioned earlier. The worship Mephistophocles and intend to open a portal to Hel so that he can be released into this dimension. The Dead hierarch set me up to be expelled so that i could pursue these guys without the church eyes on me. 
Z: You would think that after the Scattering, the Churches would rally to yours if there were Diabolists plotting something like this. 
I:  it gets a little complicated. 
Z:  How so?   
I: well remember that monster i saw. 
Z: Yes. 
I: Well apparently it was leaving my church after killing our third sleeping oracle. The dead hierarch confided in me that the threat this thing posed was already inbedded in out church and he needed someone he could trust to track these guys but to do that he had to throw the in church pursuers off of my case. 
D:  So Bhutakken framed you. 
K:  Wow 
I; .......No he freed me from my church duties to track the diabolists. He mentioned that all of the clergy that was not in their rooms were accounted for except for one priest that had come up some months from the south a guy named Amorines..... 
Z:  So have you guys in your history met at this point? 
I:  No 
(Clinicans note:  They all share speculitive looks at this apparent revelation) 
The Interview ends here.


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## akira1 (Jul 21, 2008)

*Part 2*

Post 2:  Background and the Main Characters

This is a skimpy background to the overall conflict in the game.  Also the characters submitted a character history and in my guise as Adiago Zhindzhe, i have done psychological profiles of the main characters.  Several came and went along the way and I will include theirs as well.


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## akira1 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Some background*

The heavy cloud cover that dominated the continent of Garsis seemed to droop lower this morning as Opal Mardochin marched towards what for many would be the end of their time here. The svirfneblin priestess was the Leader of the Cadre, the Scions elite police force within his city-state of Rath on the continent of Garsis. 

Her pit black eyes only barely noticed the lesser priestess within the Scions massive compound as they bowed to quite possibly the second most powerful being in the city. Her head was shaved as was the custom for the Priestess of the Scion and her network of crisscrossing interlinked chains covered her naked chest. 

She finally reached the door and standing there was a single being, an Ade'Kanya, one of the Holy Ones. Without thinking Opal prostrated herself before this being and waited until it acknowledge her presence. The Ade'Kanya, Kawl by name, towered at 7'6'' he had cords of ropey muscle covering his arms and chest and his pale blue skin. A gentle mental nudge alerted Opal to his acknowledgement and she hastily stood and then passed through the massive iron doors this being guarded. 

Opals thoughts raced as she entered the room. One of the Holy Ones, here in Rath, the rumors she had heard about the Scarlet Circle must be true. The vast room beyond the door was back lit with greenish motes of light which swirled in a maddeningly regular pattern. A single darkwood table, in a triangular shape stood in the middle of the room. Opal immediately noticed four things, there was no chair for her, Raesa Darkover, the High priestess of the Scion and her primary rival for power in the city was seated in a chair at the High table with Lo'Tyrra Shoon, she gaped at the Holy Shoon, and even more surprising the Scion, who had been dormant for the past century, sat in audience as well. Lo'Tyrra's bald head gleamed and the tracery of her link equipment glowed with a cold blue radiance. Raesa sat smug as ever with a dark gleam in her cruel eyes. The shadows which seemed to form the Scion pulsed and moved as if they were sampling the air. Opal drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she prepared to fight for her right to live and serve the Scion and the Holy Shoon. 

In a totally different place another meeting was occuring as well. The Dark Maiden moved with a quickening excitement as she walked into the ancient temple, whose location was known only to her and the Cold Rider, to awaken their master the Dread Lich King. 

A soft black diaphanous gown hung over her jet black body and her features seemed to have been carved from onyx. As she came into the central chamber she stopped a minute and looked at the accumulated knowledge of centuries that stood here. As she began to operate the controls that would release her master from stasis, the Dark Maiden fleetingly thought of the things that the world had forgotten even existed and now only existed in this room as a side note in history. 

As the massive energies built to infuse the Lich King, the Dark Maiden took out the scroll tube she had received from one of her underlings and looked over the dire message it contained. "The Shoon live." Was all it said but that name alone had sent her across the Trackless miles of the Black Sands Desert and had caused her to dispatch agents throughtout the continent. She knew the Lich King would not be happy with this news. The ancient sarcophagus opened and a brilliant radiance coalesced into the skeletal remains of the undisputed ruler of Garsis, the Lich King. 

The Dark Maiden fell to her knees and produced his simple circlet which marked him as the King. His skeletal hand gestured and the circlet lifted and floated above his head, automatically aligning itself to his nexus points. In a voice dusty from time, he said, "why have I been awakened my dark maiden and why is there no sacrifice?" 

Trembling the Dark Maiden began, "Dread Lord, there was no time.  A matter of utmost urgency has come to my attention."  
With this, the Dark Maiden produced the scroll and delivered it up to the Lich King who glanced at it once. The scroll suddenly bust into white hot flame that didnt even leave ashes. 

The Lich King began to stride through his hall and as he did link equipment flew from hidden niches throughout the room and attatched itself to him in a whirling maelstrom of steel and pure psionic force. 
"Summon the Cold Rider and the Sarn Empress, the Lich King snapped "I want evidence Igrenea."   
"It will be as you command my lord!" the Dark Maiden quickly replied but even in the back of her mind she wondered if the long absences, this being one of his longest, had begun to drive him insane..... 

And finally in an altogether different place....... 
7 beings draped in heavy black cloaks stood with their cowls pulled forward to conceal their faces. Their long white hands were the only things visible in the reflected light from the wyrding fire which lit up this room and provided these beings with their peculiar gifts. As one they intoned, "The signs and portents are clear. The age is at and end and the time for great upheavals and change has once again come upon us." 

The dual images of the awakening Lich King and then a far more sinister and dark figure, one that filled even these beings with dread, appeared in the column of bluish green wyrding fire. The 7 looked at the images for a time and then as one they left the cavern. Each knowing instinctually what they must do now to bring about the end of this age some of the mortals had termed the Age of Man if the mortals only knew how inappropriate that name had been.....


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## akira1 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Kalanaghar Psychological Profile*

Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe 
PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Ashur  

A Psychological Profile  

Kalanaghar zesin Auvryghym 

Initial Impression: Client presented to this clinicians office dressed "casually". He was wearing Studded Leather Armor and had two sword sheaths, empty, at his sides. He appeared his stated age for his race, 116 years old, and was oriented x 3. The client did not appear to be undernourished and was only slightly taller, 6'6'', than is normal for his race. He was well groomed. He seemed a little uncomfortable in the light in my office so the lights were dimmed for his comfort. He did settle down somewhat after this. 

Clinical Formulation: Information for this assessment was provided through 1:1 interview with the client and collateral documents from the clients past provided by his family. 

Family Assessment: Kalanaghar is the is the youngest of 15 children born to his mother Zesintra. It is not indicated in collateral documentation who the clients father is. The client also did not know this information. According to the client, and it was confirmed in the collateral documents, the client did meet his normal developmental milestones in the appropriate amount of time. it is indicated that the client may be the product of some sort of interracial crossbreeding. This is not substantiated and the Client did not provide any confirmation on this matter. According to the client, he was not very close to his mother who was described by him as "overbearing, malicious, and a tyrant". He stated that his mother did not have high expectations for him and that she invested little time or money in his upbringing. Kalanaghar reports feeling of isolation from his mother and siblings. 

Social Assessment: Kalanaghar reports not having many friends at any point in his life. He did brighten up a little and speak quite a bit about a mentor he had in his Swordmaster Academy. The Mentor, a Master Swordmaster at the school seemed to shield and protect Kalanaghar from the worst of the abuse that his peers and family displayed towards the client. Kalanaghar also expressed feeling that he "did not need anyone else" and "he would prove them all wrong" when asked about his interpersonal relationships. It does appear from his school records that Kalanaghar graduated near the top of his class. The client has expressed that he has no strong religious beliefs and that he "will not worship Lloth" as his family seems to do. 

Substance Abuse:  There is no reported history of substance abuse. 

Aggression:  The client reported that he only finds joy in the "thrill of combat".  The client is also a trained Swordmaster.   

Elopement:  The client stated that he has only ran away from home once.  He stated "I wanted to see the world".  

Legal: The client currently has no legal entanglements. According to collateral documentation though, His mother has made an active effort to return him to his home, "whether he likes it or not." 

Clinical Formulation: 
There is no proven or chosen method that will determine the likelihood of behavior in an individual. This format which was created by Sarek and Calis is the most widely used and adopted method. 

Anti-Social Behavior Extremely High (87%) 
The client met all or most of the folowing criteria: 
-Isolation 
-Few or no friends 
-History of Aggressive Behavior 
-Stated enjoyment of Aggressive Behavior 
-Feelings of Revenge  
-Poor acculturation  

Oppositional Behavior Extremely High (89%) 
The client met all or several of the following criteria: 
-Lack of familial supprt 
-Stated Preference to ignore familial obligations 
-Non supportive environment 
-Innatention to specific needs 
-History of Noncompliance with authority figures for 6 months or more 

Poor Self Esteem High (80%) 
The client met all or several of the following criteria: 
-Few to no friends 
-Self Imposed Isolation from friends and family 
-History of no friends  

Axis I:  309.4  Adjustment Disorder with mixed Disturbance of 
                      Emotions and Conduct Adolescent Onset 
           300.23 Social Phobia, in remission, hold for R/O 
            312.9  Disruptive Behavior Disorder NOS 


Axis II:  312.34 Intermittent Explosive Disorder  
             301.7   Antisocial Personality Disorder   

Axis III:  V71.01 None 

Axis IV:  Problems with family/support system, problems with social 
              interactions, and religious problems. 

Axis V:    GAF 43


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## akira1 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Ivanor Psychological Profile*

A Psychological Profile  

Ivanor Legosi 

Initial Impression: Ivanor Legosi appeared slightly older than his stated age of 18. He had a flat affect and his reactions were blunted. He was well groomed and was also oriented x3. The client seemed to size the counselor up and then stated, "You cannot get inside my head. I am intelligent and good at reasoning though my own thoughts this is a waste of my time". He then returned to his assessment of the counselor. In light of the resistant nature of the client, a different style was utilized to assess this client. The free form style of Orilic Zaquar was used instead of the normal interview format. 

A:  Tell me a little about your past Ivanor. 
I:  Whats there to tell, my family is dead and now I am a templar in service to Cambion, the Lord of the Dead. 
A:   Did you grieve at the passing of your family, and how did they die. 
I: My parents died when I was 13. Our farm was attacvked by goblins. My sister died in an accident where she fell on a sharp rock when I was 16. 
A: Your sister, Teri I believe were you close to her? 
I:  Yes, she was my responsibility after our parents passed I do not back out of my obligations lightly. 
A: I am wandering at the depths of your emotions for your sister. In my opinion they are deep and you have done a good job of repressing them so far. You do realize though that that sort of defense mechanism will not work forever and at some point you will have to confront the ghosts of your past? 
I:  Dead is Dead.  You cannot change that no matter how you try to talk around it.   
A; Your are correct, but my assessment of you indicates that you are Alive. It is the job of the living to continue to live and grow. 
I:  I am growing.  Are you suggesting that I am suffering from some sort of psychosis. 
A: I have not insinuated any such thing. i have just noticed that when it comes to the emotional side of things, especially in relation to your sister, you get heated. 
I:  I have dealt with my sisters death.  I honored her , mourned and moved on. 
A:  Interesting, you have had everything taken from you by the faith you espouse so readily, do you not find that odd? 
(Counselors note, the client at this point glared at the Counselor and drew in a deep breath before answering) 
I:  Are you saying my faith is a contradiction? 
A:  I am not, but I would like to know why you seem to see insinuation and subterfuge in everything I say. 
I:  My church studies the mind as well and what you are doing is apparent to me here. 
A: As I remember you church studies nightmares and Death as well. While appropriate in their context, they do not apply here. What is about this that bothers you? 
I:  This feels like an Inquisition!  I have done nothing wrong, I do not know why I am being subjected to this!  My church... 
A: Always knows whats right for you? 
(Clinical note:  The client paused and got a haunted look in his eyes at this moment) 
I:  They are all 
A: So we are back to obligation, duty, and inevitability. You don't seem so certain now has something happened that has caused this? 
I:  There was so much blood, it was everywhere on the walls on the floor, on the people who..... 
A: What is it Ivanor, what have you seen that has so disturbed you! 
I: Nothing!  You would not understand and it is none of your concern! 
As far as I am concerned, this interview is over. 
A: Ivanor, one day you will have to face this issue and deal with it. There is only so much a mind can hold down through repression before it breaks out in various ways. 
(Clinical note:  The client left the office and did not acknowledge whether he heard my advice or not) 

Clinical Formulation: 
There is no proven or chosen method that will determine the likelihood of behavior in an individual. This format which was created by Sarek and Calis is the most widely used and adopted method. 

Depression Extremely High (93%) 
The client exhibited a majority or all of the following criteria: 
-Repression of Memories relating to traumatic events 
-Inability to speak in terms of his feeling regarding traumatic events 
-Blunted Affect  
-Mood Swings 

Bi-Polar Disorder High (83%) 
The Client exhibited a majority or all of the following criteria: 
-Cyclical changes in mood 
-Periods of deep depression and mania 
-Inability to cope with distress 

Paranoia (High 86%) 
The Client exhibited most or all of the following criteria: 
-Untrusting demeanor 
-Consistent belief in persecution from authority figures 
-Inability to relate to others in the same situation 
-Feelings that someone is trying to oppress or control him 

Axis I:     309.9   Adjustment Disorder Unspecified 
               313.81 Oppositional Defiant Disorder  

Axis II:     296.33 Major Depressive Disorder, Severe, with Psychotic 
                           Features 
                 301.0  Paranoid Personality Disorder  

Axis III:     V71.01  None  

Axis IV:      Problems relating to family deaths, Problems related to Social  
                  Environment 

Axis V:        GAF = 42


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## akira1 (Jul 25, 2008)

*Damien Psychological Profile*

A Psychological profile of Damien 
By Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe 
PhD in Clinical Psychology 

Initial Impression: Damien appeared in my office at the stated time dressed casually in loose fitting leather armor over a mithril chain shirt. He also possessed a pair of bat like wings which he seemed to take great pride in understating. For Example he would flex them and when questioned about their functionality he would reply, "What these?" Although he went to great effort to appear nonchalant, Damien was very aware of what was transpiring around him. He was alert and oriented x 3. His memory was adequate. he was able to recall a small list of items (kidney, dire bear, and ralidon) after a set amount of time. He did not appear to be malnourished or underweight and looked like he came from the stated region of his birth, the Elf Haught Forest in the fallen Drow kingdom of A'telmandor. 

Clinical Documentation: The following records were used for this interview, diverse records from Damien's past and a 1:1 interview with Damien himself. 

Family Assessment: According to collateral documents, Damien's birth is of dubious nature. Damien himself describes himself as a "Fey'ri" and not as Drow which is the typical race from the region he was born into. He described this difference rather pointedly when asked about it. "I'm half demon". According to Damien his family took an active hand in his life and rearing. Damien stated that , "My family planned my career, arranged my marriage, and planned my life out completely." Damien only gave a minimal description of his interactions with his family. He stated, "I chafed against this familial control." He did note that he would often "sneak off to the seedier parts of the city and get in trouble." When asked about the trouble he reportedly got into Damien simply smiled and flexed his wings and said, "You know Doc, trouble." Damien would not elaborate farther and there is no indication of this trouble in the collateral documents. According to Damien he had little control in the decisions that were made in his life. Damien stated, "My family agreed to send my to the Drow Warrior Academy in A'telmandor to learn discipline and obedience." 

Social Assessment: According to Damien he is an outgoing sort and had numerous friends. Damien stated that, "When I would sneak out and go to the bad sides of town, I would often meet up with my associates there." When asked why he referred to these people in this way Damien said, " A person in my position cant really have friends amongst the lower class. They served an end, so what if they did not know that." While in The Drow Warriors Academy, the client stated that he did meet a Drow warrior that "could protect me." This warrior, one Kalanaghar, was befriended by Damien and this is a friendship that is current now. When asked about he and Kalanaghars relationship, Damien replied,"Its mutually beneficial. he doesn't like to talk and I do, and he is a lot handier with his swords than I am." Damien stated that he finally decided to leave his family by tricking them. he stated that he "found a doppelganger to pose as him" and then he fled. 

Substance Abuse: There is no indication of this in the collateral documentation. Damien simply smiled and said, "I cannot confirm nor deny any substance abuse in my present or past life." 

Aggression: There is no documented history of aggression in Damien's past. Damien stated, " I do it from behind." When asked if he had been involved in any aggressive behaviors towards others. 

Elopement: Damien's history is full of reported incidents of elopement from his home. Damien said that he ran away from home numerous times to indulge in freedom from the restraint placed on him at home. he also reported ran away from home "for good" according to Damien. 

Legal: There is an indication of legal charges being brought against Damien for some incident in his past. When asked about this incident Damien replied, "What incident? My family paid good money to have that expunged from my record." it was pointed out to Damien that his associates at this time were all executed. Damien with a smile noted, "The event that you speak of was very unfortunate. They should not have gotten caught." 

Clinical Formulation 

Oppositional Defiant Disorder:  95% Severe The client displays several or all of the following criteria 
-Non compliance with authority figures/family members 
-A history of legal problems 
-Frequent attempts at subversion of others authority 
-Manipulative behaviors  

Antisocial Personality Disorder:  90% Severe The client displays several or all of the following criteria 
-No respect for the legal system 
-Frequent legal entanglements 
-Inability to form strong social bonds with peers 

Cluster B Personality Type 90% Severe the client has a majority or all of the following criteria 
-Self Centered Focus 
-Manipulative nature  
-Narcissistic traits  

Axis I:  V71.01 Antisocial Personality Disorder  
            V62.81 Relational Problem NOS 

Axis II:  Cluster B personality type 

Axis III:  V71.09 None Assigned  

Axis IV: Parental child relational problems, problems with the legal systems 

Axis V:  GAF 45


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## akira1 (Jul 25, 2008)

*The Story Continues*

I'm going to break the wall of text that I had posted as their second adventure and repost it within the next couple of days.  Please read and respond.


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## akira1 (Jul 30, 2008)

*The Second Adventure*

"So have you guys in your history met at this point in history?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked curiously. 

"No" came the metallic sounding response. 

The memory amulet faded from bright red to its dull blue color indicating that the recording of the previous session had been completed. 
Adiago Yurobo Zhindze removed the amulet from his forehead, stood, stretched himself, moved over to a well appointed side bar, and poured a glass of Verdrian Red. The dark crimson port liquor seemed almost black in the subdued light of his office as he held it up to admire its qualities in the dim light. 

 Sighing in contentment, after a sip, Adiago turned and with a start he dropped his crystal glass, realizing that he was no longer alone. Seated across the room from Dr. Zhindzhe, sat a figure that was dressed from head to toe in black. he had long tight fitting black pants and a vest on under a deep hooded cloak which seemed to flow around his body on its own accord. The figure had round almost childish features and large black eyes which seemed far older than the cherubic face they stared out of. His skin seemed to have been carved from a solid block of mahogany wood. 

"Dr. Zhindzhe I presume."  The being said more as a statement than a question through his thin red lips. 

"Yes, I am Dr. Zhindze....Master..." I stumbled back questioningly. 
 The being simply smiled and then smoothly ignored my question saying, "Verdrian Red, a very good port." He laid his smooth dark hands across his crossed leg at this point and cocked his head to one side as if examining me. 

"Would you like some, I seem to have dropped mine and I think I will need another one before this is all done." I replied as I started to move again to the side board. 

"I would appreciate it Doctor."  He said as his predatory followed me across the room.   

I filled two glasses and then handed him one and sat behind my desk as he sipped and seemed to absorb the smell of the liquor around him from the air. 
     "What may I ask is your business here?"  I asked. 

Again he smiled and said, " I would like to relate a story to you concerning some of your clients."   

"Sir, I am bound by the laws of confidentiality and cannot reveal any information pertaining to people who may or may not be in my services." 
 He smiled again but this time his eyes remained cold as he said, " As you will, just listen and take notes then I am hiring you." 

"This is highly unorthodoxed.  There is a system that I have to follow and..." 
 He simply stared at me but in that stare I saw promises of pain beyond my imagining if I did not immediately submit to my mysterious guests will. 
 He stared around my office, admiring the heavy Bals wood shelves which held a variety of object from my own treatises to highly polished stones. He seemed to settle down into the leather couch contentedly and pushed his feet deep into the blue carpet which covered my floor. 

"Take your notepad out Doctor.  I am sure you are going to want to write this down."  He said. "It all started on the 14th Day of Flameskull"  he began..... 

"What exactly are you talking about sir?"  I interrupted. 

"Listen Doctor, I respect your work.  So I will warn you this once.  Do not interrupt me again."  He said flatly. 

"A A A As you say Sir."  I stammered back. 

"Now as I was saying," he began again, "Ivanor Legosi has for a few weeks now been attempting to divine the location and motivations behind those who are responsible for the kidnapping of Alaria a priestess of his temple. In his searches, he was directed by his mentor, a being known as the Cusp, to seek out Master Palimon." 

He paused at this point and sipped his port and commented, " This is really good, what year is it?" 

"345 A.I." I said and then continued into his pause as he held the glass up to look at it under the dim light of my office. "This Ivanor was searching for someone that had vanished from his church you say and had been directed to someone named Master Palimon." 

He looked amused at this and said, "Yes Doctor," you have an amazing capacity for stating the obvious."   Abashed I sat back and motioned that I was ready for him to continue. 

"Master Palimon is a cleric of Cambion, the Lord of Death, and also a necromancer affiliated with the Wizards Guild in Rath. A rather potent individual to say the least." He pased and took another sip this time holding the glass up over his nose to sniff its scent. "He was told by the Cusp that at times, MAster Palimon has been able to prophecy through his nightmares and that he may be able to offer him some direction in his search." 

"Interesting," I said. 

"Indeed, well Ivanor went to see Master Palimon out where he lived in the tent city that surrounded the city state of Rath proper and when he arrived there Master Palimon had another guest and was speaking animatedly with him about tea." 

"I wonder what that has to do with anything?"  I asked curiously. 

"Ivanor encountered a variety of strange creatures" he said completely ignoring me again and also levelling me a hard warning stare. 
 "and then quite suddenly, Master palimon swug the curtain back that was his door and invited Ivanor into his abode which is the base of some long forgotten tower." 

" Once inside Ivanor saw that Master Palimon was entertaining a Cleric of Moenoch, Alexander Ironheart and a curious looking half breed kobold svirfneblin naked Pak. Apparently they had the same issues." He continued. 
    "So the clergy of Memnoch was missing a priestess as well and he was out looking for her?"  I asked. 

My guest simply nodded as I commented and then looked through my notes for the document I needed. "It would seem that clergy going missing is nothing new in Rath. Why were these two so dedicated to unraveling this mystery?" 

"Well normally you would be right but according to the Memnite, Alexander, only certain religions were being targeted and they included, Memnoch, Garum, and Cambion." he replied. 

"That certainly puts a new spin on things." I commented between sips of my port. 

"It sure does. After they had gotten acquainted Master Palimon drank his tea and entered his nightmares. He slept for an hour or so and when he awoke he prophesied." 

" I am sorry, I am finding this a little hard to believe. This man went to sleep and woke up with visions of the future." I stated. 

With a dry chuckle my guest said, "Exactly.  But what he said sounds more like gibberish than actual help."   

"Such is the nature of Prophecy.  What did he say?"  I asked as I began to warm to the subject. 

"What is unrelated is related, and the whole cannot be seen without all of the parts." He quoted. 

I blinked and then raising my voice said,"What! That makes absolutely no sense."    

My guest sat his empty glass down and said, " I do not claim to understand the nature of the prophecy. it at least right now seems to be just one more bit of confusion in an already chaotic matter." 

"Alright they received the "help" of Master Palimon if you wanna call it that and then"  I left it hanging. 

"They talked and compared notes and decided that they needed more information from the Disciple." He said. "They agreed to both go and when they got there, a coldly beuatiful woman, alabaster white skin, cold gray eyes, and wavy black hair down to her waist, stood outside of the door, on her way into the Disciples office. She stopped and eyed them both and then went in." 

"I am going to have to meet this Disciple.  He seems like an interesting fellow to know."  I mused. 

"You do not want to meet him unless you absolutely have to. They were admitted while this woman, who identified herself as Claudia, sat and listened to their predicament along with the Disciple. Once it was over, the Disciple of course attempted to turn this whole situation into something that he would profit from saying that they would have to pay a lot for that type of information after giving them tidbits saying that the Underworld had been hired to carry out the abductions by some mysterious master." My guest said. 

" I have never liked that quality in people."  He said as he looked quickly at my side board. 

Taking his glass I took it and refilled it.  As I walked to the sideboard I asked, "What quality is that?" 

     "Always twisting everything so that they always come out on top."  He replied as I handed him his refilled glass.

Standing this close to him, I could feel a heat and a faintly cloying smell emanating from him. "Thats the way of our world. i am sure you are gaining something from this exchange including joy at not revealing you name...." I said. 

"Claudia interrupted the price negotiations and said that if Ivanor agreed to perform a service for her within the next month, she would provide him with the information that he needed to find those responsible for the kidnapping of Alaria." My guest said with a smile that said finding out his name would not be that easy. 

Giving up attempting to find his name I said, "The Disciple allowed this?" 
 " Of course, He did." my guest continued, "According to him, the Underworld had kidnapped every one that was needed and had been paid for their services. As a part of the Underworld, he felt no obligation to keep this information that Claudia was going to provide secret, he simply wanted them to pay him for information that any street rogue could have found out with a few hours of searching." 

"I see, he is kind of a detestable sort."  I smirked. 

"Hes the type you deal with only if absolutely necessary." The dark man confirmed. "After Claudia told them where to find these people, Ivanor then questioned the motives of the Underworld in taking this contract and royally pissed off the Disciple who reported this to his superiors." 

"What did he say that would cause the Disciple to do that?" I asked. 
 "He was trying to confirm some suspicion of his own that the cultists involved in this were the same as the ones that were involved in his expulsion from the church in the Necropolis as well as trying to make sure that the Disciple and Claudia had not out witted him and trapped him into something that would serve their ends and not his." He replied as he swirled the port around in his glass. 

"Well I certainly would do that."  I said kind stiffly. 

"Then you do not understand the nature of the Underworld." he said. 

"Asking to many questions can be as dangerous as not asking enough. The implication here is that the Underworld is consorting with Diabolists. So the Disciple took steps to protect his employer." 

"Steps?"  I asked. 

"Yes, steps. There is a pending contract on Ivanor's life if the Disciples superiors think it is worth pursuing he will be going into the arms of his deity. Right now they are simply watching him and getting his daily patterns and behaviors memorized." 

"For what?"  I asked. 

"Assassination."  he said simply.   

I took a deep swallow of my Red and said, "Doesn't that seem a little much for a few simple questions?" 

"Not considering that if any of the priests in the city believed what he was saying, they would unite and hunt the Underworld. Those of the cloth have a burning hatred of those who worship the Powers of Hel. It goes back to the war between Heaven and hel and the acquiring of souls which means more power." 

"Thats all religious nonsense.  There is no battle that has raged for time immemorial in heaven."  I commented. 

"Believe what you will, thats why the Disciple did what he did."              
He said. "Ivanor and the Memnite, Alexander, then decided on a plan of action. They were going to assault these Diabolists in their home nest. They parted ways and agreed to meet 15 minutes before 0000 hour at the Inn, the Devils Cup, which was located across the street from the Diabolists in district 9." 
****************To Be Continued**************************

Next the Assault on the Diabolists Stronghold.


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## akira1 (Aug 3, 2008)

*The Assault on the Diabolists*

"At the appointed time, Ivanor showed up with a contingent of 5 templars from his church under his command and he was met by Alexander, Pak, and a contingent of 5 Memnite Templars. Also present but not acting were two elders from the Church of Memnoch, twins named Valor and Armor."

"Curious names. So they met up at the Devils Cup and then what?" I stated impatient to here the resolution of these events. 

He then leaned forward with an intent look in his eyes and suddenly his voice rang in my head telepathically. 

Mere words cannot describe this event. I will instead telepathically impart what unfolded after they met. 

_The Devil's Cup is a two story building of wood and stone. The crowds that normally were in this establishment were absent on this evening. Outside a commmotion started as coming down the street, heads held erect and in perfect cadence with each other marched 6 Memnites behind a tall Blond haired and blue eyes Templar wearing black full plate armor with a red scepter emblazoned upon the breast plate. His deep black hooded cloak flared out behind him as he walked and his cold eyes stared challenge at anyone that stood in his way. Chained to his side, was Pak, the Kobold, Svirfneblin half breed. Needless to say the side walk cleared and the Memnites entered the Devil's Cup and waited. _

_The Memnites entrance while spectacular was not as impressive as the next approach. Ivanor led 5 templars of the Church of Cambion in single file down the sidewalk. The Templars, All draped in heavy black robes swayed as they walked behind him and they all hummed a deep bass voiced dirge. Their scythes were strapped across their backs and while the Memnites inspired fear, the Raven Priests inspired a deep abiding dread as they followed their Leader Ivanor, who was dressed in chaimnal and wearing a plain tabard, stoically down the sidewalks towards the Cup. 
Ivanor and Alexander conferred then. Ivanor stated, " We should take some of them alive for questioning." _
_
Alexander levelled a look at him and said, "You are of the church of the Dead.....Speak with Dead." He then turned and the two of them strode out into the dark muggy streets of Rath. Their various minions spreading out to cut off the exits from the building. 

Walking side by side, The Memnite and The Raven Priest moved through the crowd in a bubble of solitude as their capes snapped and their armor glinted under the light from the faerie fire used to illuminate the signs in this area. The crowd stepped back at the arrival of these two and an expectant hush fell over them as they stopped in the center of the street._ 

_Alexander undid the chain that Pak was on and pointed at the building where the diabolists were supposed to be and simply said, "Pak the door." 
Pak suddenly began to polymorph and grow. His shoulders arms and chest became wider and boney protrusions and claws sprouted. With a feral howl, he charged and slammed into the dorr exploding it in in a shower of splintered wood. Calling upon the might of his deity, Ivanor broguht a globe of light into existance around himself and Alexander started walking, and drawing his long sword as he approached the now open entrance. The crowd began a frenzy of betting on who would come out of the building alive. _
_
Inside the building Pak was in melee combat with two cultists, dressed in hide armors and wielding dirks and a third was at the stairs and ran up at their entrance screaming that they had been undone. Alexander stepped into the doorway and was confronted by another diabolist. With out missing a step the Memnite continued to advance and as he got close he struck. The Cultist swung with his dirk and the blade bent on the full plate of the Memnite. Alexander swung a mighty reverse stroke and which crumpled the Cultist. 

Pak remained engaged with the two cultists he faced originally and Ivanor charged in and up the stairs after the other Cultists on the second floor. He came up into a room where a pentagram had been carved into the floor and the grooves were filled with blood which was boiling and smoking. There were 4 diabolists in this room plus another that backed up and begaun praying to the powers of hel for might. 

Ivanor was immediately set upon by the 4. With his sword in hand, Ivanor batted down the attempts to hit him by the other three and whirling he spun and then slashed the fourth cultist in half at the waist. Ivanor stayed in his half crouch as the cultist he had wounded stopped suddenly and looked in disbelief as the top half of him tumbled bacward and his legs fell onto and down the stairs behind Ivanor. As this occurred the Memnite came walking up the stairs behind him. Three of the cultists shifted to face this new threat. 

The fleeing cultist completed his incantation and hurled a ball of black despair at Ivanor. The ball sturck true and Ivanor sensed his own impending doom at this assault. Ivanor suddenly saw himself being confronted by fiends from Hel, and his resolve to fight began to wane. He rallied though as he felt a fell presence behind him and the sneers of triumph turned to chagrin as Cambion himself stood with his cleric. The powers of hel fled none of them being strong enough to confront a deity. The cultists that had cast this spell then turned and attemtped to flee up the stairs to the third floor. 

Ignoring the innefectual strikes of the cultists around him Ivanor moved with confidence and summoned the might of his deity and spoke a single word of power. 

Ivanor could feel the blessing of his deity infusing him as he said, "STOP!" The word imbued with the might of his deity caused a visible ripple in the air as it moved to the fleeing cultist. it struck him and the cultists froze to his spot. 

Ivanor began to approach the cultist he had ensorcelled and behind him, Alexander, with a look of contempt on his face fought the three that were in front of him. Working methodically, the Memnite worked all three of them high and then low. Suddenly in mid swing, he revered the grip on his sword hilt and drove it through one of the cultists and then in a mighty cleave, through a second one as well. 

Ivanor reached the cultsit who by now was no longer under the influence of his spell and the cultists immediately began to bargain for his life saying that he knew where the sacrifices were. Thinking that Ivanor was of the Church of Memnoch, since he had no visible religious affiliation, the Cultists said that if he gave his word not to kill him he would tell him. Ivanor replied that he was of the Church of Death. All fight went out of this cultists as he realized that his fate was finally upon him. Ivanor cut him down mercilessly and behind him Alexander finished off the remaining cultist. 

As one they marched up the stairs to the third floor. Another Pentagram was here but this one was made of metal and human skin and inlaid with powdered silver. In the center stood the master of this cabal and at the 5 points sat his assistants deep in meditation. The pentagram was glowing with an unholy blue fire and waves of energy were washing through the room. The Masters eyes snapped open as the Clerics entered and he said through clenched teeth, "No I will not be undone in the hour of my triumph!" 

His voice then took on a strange hollow quality and he slammed his fists together and said, "MASTER, grant me a measure of your power to insure our victory!" He wild eyes flew open in triumph as a burst of energy again washed through the room. 

Four of the assistants then sprang to their feet with a snarl as they ripped their dirks from their waists hell bent on stopping these enemies at all cost. The 5th assistant slinked back against the back wall and once he was in sight of both of them he squared his shoulders and turned his hands palm upwards in culred his fingers like claw. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at the clerics and said, " Taste the fire of Hel!" with that he threw a blast of hellfire across the room striking the Memnite full if the chest. Alexander staggered but did not falter under the blast. 

Alexander ignored the cultists that were assaulting him and moved through them, realizing the threat the Infernalist inside of the pentagram represented he walked right up to the pentagram. Ivanor moved to the side of his compatriot, and immediately was engaged by 2 of the cultists. Three black balls appeared within the pentagram and then spread as they became wings and 3 imps, appeared. 

Snarling the Infernalist spat, "Kill them ALL!!"  The Imps immediately went after Alexander. Alexander nonplussed by the imps, drew upon the dark majesty of Memnoch, summoned the semblance of his deity. The terror this instilled drove all of the cultists that were assaulting him away and caused the imps to hesitate. Ivanor was beset now by 2 cultists but from his current position he could see that there was someone tied up in the corner. 

The imps struck and struck again at Alexander who dropped to one knee under their assault. Bellowing he said, " I will not fail my god!" He then rose to his feet, drew his throwing dagger, and hurled it at the Infernalist missing but striking the wall right beside his head. This was enough to disrupt his control over the imps and they turned and began to advance on him. 

Ivanor smashed another of the cultists to the floor in a lifeless heap and then came under assault from the Hellfire Acolyte. A blast of hellfire arced across the room to strike him in the back. Ivanor Singed and bleeding from many cuts, drew deeply on the strength of Cambion and his woulds eased somewhat. 

The Infernalists eyes widen in terror and he screamed out his deifance. He them summoned all of his mental strength and ruthlessly crushed his will back down onto that of the imps reasserting his control. Then with both of his arms extended out before him like claws he made a pushing gesture at Alexander and screamed, "I will not be undone by the likes of you!" Alexander summoned the might of his deity and his sword burst into cold blue flames he then advanced to meet the imps. Ivanor meanwhile battled two of the other cultists. Seeing the body in the corner Alexander recognized her as the priestess that was missing from his church, the Bloody Bishop, Selma Chillheart. He then yelled to Ivanor, "There in the corner, Selma, she can help us!" 

The imps then swooped in for the attack. Alexander was ready for them this time. Grabbing the hilt of his sword with both hands he drove it point first into the belly of one of the startled imps. As he did so he slowly pushed the now magical blade into his opponents and said, "Taste the power of Memnoch fiend!" The Imp scremed its anguish while its companions assaulted Alexander to no affect. 

Ivanor charged into the corner and cut the bindings on the Bloody Bishop who rose. The Infernalist was also in this corner but all of his focus was on the imps he had summoned and he didnt notice. 

Alexander continued to battle the Imps and Selma, the Bloody Bishop entered the fray. Gesturing she summoned a scepter like field of force and smashed the hellfire acolyte to the floor with a single blow. Ivanor swung a mighty swing and struck the Infernalist in the stomach. As he pulled his blade free a shocked look came on the face of the Infernalist and he said, "why brother we were of the same faith..." A haunted look came into his face as the imps, now freed from his control flew onto him and began eating him alive and telling him in explicit detail what was going to happen to him once they took his soul to Hel. 

Alexander advanced relentlessly on the cultist that did not flee the room and decapitated him with a single stroke. Meanwhile a cultists fled only to meet Pak on the stairs who summarily disposed of him. Pak had a pair of legs in his mouth and another body impaled across his back. 
Freed Selma informed them that she was the last to be sacrified and that all of the others were dead. 

Ivanor then Dismanteld the pentagram and they returned to the street where Ivanor saw a figure swthed from head to toe in red crouching on the roof of the Devil's Cup seemingly watching. The figure when they emerged turned and flew off into the night. The Scions priestesses then arrived and began to shake people down.
_
Blikning at the deluge I said, "That was extraordinary." 
My guest seemed like he did not care as he leaned back into my couch and said, "Thats not all. Damien and Kalanaghar also had some rather pertinment things occur as well." 

Gesturing I said, "Please do tell." 

With a slight knowing smile he said, "They were asked on the same night as this just before Ivanor and Alexander arrived at the Devil's Cup by a coldly beautiful female who called herself Lady Ravensbrow." 
"Is she the same as..." With a raised hand he silenced me and said, 
"She had wavey waist length black hair, cold gray eyes, blood red lips and seemed to have been carved from alabaster and she wanted to talk to those two." 

Taking a sip from his glass again he continued, " She wanted to hire them possibly. She then went off into whether they had seen any strange people in the city lately and with a look at his Bat wings Damien replied that they had not. His humor being lost on her, she continued and stated that she may have a job for them in the future." 

"Rath seems to be a good place to get employment." I replied. 
Snorting he said, "Only if you wanna be pressed into working on the Scion's New Temple. He has been buying up slaves like a mad man and even increased the numbers of press gangs in his city that "recruit" drunkards, and the poor for temple work." 

"I think i will pass" I said. 

"Somehow I figured you would." he replied and then continued, "Any way as lady Ravensbrow was talking to them a strange praying mantis like man came into the Devil's Cup. She immediately began to ease her way out of her booth and when the being was not paying attention she fled out through the kitchen. The insect man then came over and sniffed her seat and gave chase." 

"Mysterious." I said ominously. 

"Indeed it was. Kalanaghar and Damien though went and scouted the hide out of Kilgur Morcant for the assassination mission they had been given by the Disciple and indetified 4 guards who were simply posing as being passed out drunks. They then returned and decided to go ssee the Disciple for more money to hire some muscle." 

"This disciple seems to have his fingers in everything." I commented.

"The Disciple directed them to the theives guild and from there Belg #6 directed them to the Faded Rose where the were to seek out Eddie 9 fingers who got them the muscle they needed and gave them some advice to help them survive on the streets of Rath." 

"Like what?" I asked. 

"If I told you, I would have to kill you." he replied sardonicly. 
"When they were in the Underworld safe house, they also ran into Rat who was trying to get information on someone. Apparently there is a turf war brewing in Brickfaces district and someone is slinging around alot of cash buying up all the help in the area. Rat stated that the rival gang was calling themselves the Talons of Malice but he got no more from the Underworld." 

"There seems to be alot going on." I said. 

"There is and it only gets deeper." He said. "After meeting Eddie these two returned to the Cup where as they were talking Damien felt the presence of a magical spying device. Shortly thereafter, Elvira, the owner of the Cup told him in no uncertain terms that he was being watched and that if he had troubles take it away from her inn." 

He then paused and took a sip from his glass again. He stood at this point and said, "look at the time. Dr. Zhindzhe, I will be back at a later time to finish this." 

Looking at my own water clock i noticed that it was 0400 and I said, By the gods time has flown." 

When I turned around again my mysterious guest was gone and all that remained to even acknowledge his presence was a faint cloying smell, a depression in my leather couch, and an empty glass.


----------



## akira1 (Aug 4, 2008)

With a whooshing pop and a rush of cold air, the jump point door opened onto Serpico Lane in the 9th city district of Rath. Dr. Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe stepped out of the chilled box and shook the excess frost from him before it could begin to melt and possibly stain his white traveling suit. Being from the southern realms, Dr. Zhindzhe was taller and darker than the people from the north. He was a lean hard muscled man with sharp features and large smooth hands and he carried himself with an air of supreme dignity as he stepped around the urchins running through the crowded streets of the 9th District. 

 Moving with the innate grace of a dancer, Dr. Zhindzhe marveled at how disgusting the cities in the north were. They were filled past over flowing and there was garbage in the streets and the smell, but in any event he thought how the cities to the south that he had grown up in far out shined the cities of the north. His musings were interrupted as he saw the place he was looking for, The Devil's Cup. 

 The Devil's Cup was a two story stone and wood structure with bright red shingles on the roof. The sign swaying over the entrance portrayed a fiendish looking mid section wearing a spiked steel cod piece. Dr Zhindzhe chuckled at this as he entered the cool depths of the tap room proper. He was immediately confronted by a tall well toned female with sharp white eyes and a wealth of lustrous black hair. She was wearing the costume of this tavern, a tan dress with the cleavage cut very low and a series of petticoats hitched up on one side of her leg. She also had several daggers strapped to that expanse of leg. 

With a challenging stare she spat, " I will be seeing the color of your money." 

Carefully Dr. Zhindzhe moved his hand to his belt pouch and removed his coin bag and opened it for her. When she saw the contents, her demeanor changed completely. She bobbed a quick curtsy and then said, "Follow me sir, my name is Iris and I will be your waitress." She then began to force a path through the crowded room towards the center which seemed far less crowded and better maintained. Taking a seat, Dr. Zhindzhe said, "There will be a goblin and a human mercenary joining me shortly madam, could you have them escorted to this table." 

     "Of course will you have anything to drink?"  She asked into the pause. 

"Uhhh no thank you, just some water." Turning she managed to strut, flounce and sway all at once. What a remarkable woman the Dr. was thinking as Iris left his table. 

Looking around the tap room, he saw all manner of races but the most common seemed to be the goblinoids and the humans. There were conversations being held in a dozen languages adding to the babble that was spilling into the room from the thronging masses outside. The tap room itself was cleaner than Dr. Zhindzhe had expected all things being considered. The floor was polished hardwood and the table and chairs all seemed to match as well. The room itself was a low beamed affair and it almost seemed cozy. 

 As Dr Zhindzhe sat musing, a large purple skinned goblin and an large human male came silently up to his table. The large goblin said, " Dr Zhindzhe?" 
     With a quiet calm the Doctor replied, " I am, and I am assuming that you are Belg #6 and this is Brock?" 

     They both nodded and at a gesture from the Doctor they sat down across from him the Doctor noted with a cold inner logic.   

 "So gentlemen, lets get right to business, I would not like to stay overlong in your....quaint city." Dr Zhindzhe said with a sardonic smile on his face. 
     Belg #6 replied, "Quaint, Rath has nearly 25 million inhabitants." 
 Letting a small smile touch his lips, Dr Zhindzhe replied, " I am from the south Mr. #6, we had cities this size when you people were still hiding in pits and killing each other with fire hardened spears and rocks. So as I was saying, you two have information about a certain group of adventurers that you want to pass along." 

 "We do." It was Brock this time. The Barbarian was large and muscular and had the scars associated with his profession written large across his arms and chest. Iris returned at this point and deposited a glass of water and then took the other orders and departed again in a swirl of petticoats and long well formed legs. 

     "Shall we begin gentlemen?" 

     "I will start." Belg #6 said. "It was the 15th day of Flameskull. Word had been put out on the streets that someone was going to ice Kilgur Morcant and that some cash had been thrown around for some muscle." Belg began. "As luck would have it, Damien and Kalanaghar took this job through the Disciple and had spent several days casing Kilgur's hold, a warehouse over on Wharf Road #17." 

 "Kalanaghar and Damien were waiting at the Devil's Cup for their back up to arrive when the coldly beautiful woman, Claudia Ravensbrow, showed up and spoke to them about a job opportunity. She seemed more confident that what she was looking for was in the city and she said that she might need them to steal it for her. All she said about what it was was that it was evidence." 

     "What kind of evidence?"  I asked as I took out my memory stone and placed it on the table between all three of us.   

 "How am I supposed to know" he growled, "I wasn't even there and I got all of this second hand. For all I know, Claudia could have been ugly as the back end of a Rock trolls unwashed ass." Belg #6 said through clenched teeth, as he dug his large yellowed fingernails into the wood of the table unconsciously as he went through a series of facial ticks and more growling. 

Drawing back I said, "Sir, are you all right?" 

     "I'm fine"  Belg spat, "get on with this, I have stuff"  this came out between wheezing gasps, "to do." 

     "Alright," I said quickly go on with your story. 

 He looked at me with flat wolf like yellow eyes and said, "Anyway Claudia talked to Damien and Kalanaghar and made it be known that she was also ready to use the favor that Ivanor owed her as well. She had decided to put together a team and had begun recruiting." 

 "It was at this point that Damien told Claudia that they had seen an odd mantis like man follow her and that before he had given chase, he sniffed her seat as if her were scenting her." 

 "Odd" Dr Zhindzhe replied, " I have heard that some of the mutants that live out in the stinging flats can track you by scent but I did not know it was as common as that." 

 "Apparently neither did Claudia, because she suddenly seemed really relieved at finding out how they had been following her despite her best efforts to block divinations." 

 At this point Belg #6 began to cough and shake again and he thirstily grabbed my cup of water and promptly spat it out. "Water!?" he exclaimed. 
     "Yes, Belg #6, water."  I said calmly.   

 Grumbling he stood and asked Brock if he wanted anything "real" to drink and then taking his order went to the bar and began to order. 
     Brock began, "It was shortly after this that me and the boys showed up and then we went after Morcant."

***********************To Be Continued*********************


----------



## akira1 (Aug 11, 2008)

*Morcant*

"Would you care to elaborate on that Mr Brock?" 

"Yeah" He grunted,"They hired me and 3 of the boys from the Mercenaries guild through Eddy 9 fingers and when we showed up they were all about getting this business over so after they briefed me and the men as to our duties we left and went and killed Morcant." 

"Certainly there was more to it than that!" I exclaimed.   

"As a matter of fact there wasn't."  he returned.  "We stuck swords in him and he died."  he said rather bluntly.   

     Sighing I said, "What about the break in and did he have any guards?"   

"Yeah he had 4 goblins outside pretending to be drunk and we wiped them out in what 9 seconds. Kalanaghar surrounded two of them with faerie fire and the rest of us charged into their surprise. Then Damien picked the door to the main entrance, and we ran into a small squad of goblins that were backed up by some guy in spiked plate mail and wielding a large sword." 

"I see, now we are getting somewhere.  What other details do you have to offer."  I probed. 

 "Well" he said, "I was kinda berserk during this part so I don't accurately recall what happened but I do know that Kalanaghar deafened several of the goblins with a thunderstone and he stuck that big guy in the armor to the floor with a tangleroot bag. Which was a good thing because that guy was dangerous." 

     "So you guys mopped up the opposition and then what?"  I said. 

     "Went searched the warehouse and came across a group of goblins waiting in a room."  He said.   

     "Did you all charge in and kill them?"  I asked. 

 "Nope, Damien bluffed them into thinking that we worked for Morcant. They told us that something had happened in the warehouse and were waiting for their orders. Damien then said that he would find out and come back and tell them. They were happy at this and told us to be wary of the monkey in the hallway." 

     "A monkey in the hallway?!"  I said. 

 "Yeah it turned out to be a choker and after setting off a spear trap which he avoided, Damien got attacked by it." He said blandly. 

     " I see" I replied.   

 Belg #6 returned at this point and sat down two large foaming mugs of dark ale and after taking a long swig Brock continued, " Earlier a single orc had escaped and ran to Morcant and when we got to the last room they were both in there, but Morcant was ready for us and he turned out to be a wizard." 

     "A wizard now this is interesting."  I said. 

 Belg #6 grunted and then Brock continued, "Me and the boys rushed him but his magical defenses were strong enough to counter their attacks but not mine. I got him good with my sword." Brock seemed to trail off at this point. 

     "What happened then?"  I pressed. 

     "Morcant put me and two of my boys to sleep."  Brock said quickly. 

     Belg #6 gave Brock a long look and then began to laugh at him.     
 "Well thats one way to stop a raging Barbarian!" Belg #6 said uproariously and he began to pound the heavy wooden table with a large paw like hand.
 Wiping tears from his yellow eyes, Belg #6 said, " Well Damien had used his innate clairvoyance's ability and spied the room before all of this and there was a statue in the room as well with rubies for eyes." 

     "A statue with ruby eyes."  I said uncomprehending. 

     "Yeah, Kalanaghar cast darkness on it and later on he cut the ruby eyes out and pocketed them."  Belg #6 replied.   

 "So Kalanaghar and Damien charged the wizard and the remaining mercenary took on the orc that had fled earlier. Kalanaghar threw another thunderstone and deafened Morcant which caused him to lose a couple spells during this fight. He did manage to cast a cause fear spell on Kalanaghar and he killed one of the Mercenaries and singed Damien lightly with a burning hands." 

     "Wizards are dangerous it seems."  I said.   

 "Yeah they are" Brock chimed in. Before he killed the mercenary that was assisting Damien against the wizard, he did wake me up and at this point Kalanghar overcame his fear and emerged from the darkness spell he had cast. Then Damien and myself finished off the wizard and looted his hide out." 

     "What about the Goblins in that one room that you guys left behind?"  I queried. 

 "Damien went back and told them that their services would not be needed and they left. I actually knew a few of them from the Mercenaries Guild they are good guys, it would have been a shame to have to cut them in two." Brock said offhandedly. 

     With my eyes slightly widened I said, " Yes, that would have been terrible." 

 "On the next night, Those two also broke into Paeter Amorines Manor out in Distrinct 12 with Rat and El tari. They were briefed earlier in Rats favorite hangout the Floatsom Inn. They met Old Salt the owner who has only 1 arm, leg and eye." Belg #6 said. 

     "Why is that Belg #6 and did you accompany them on this Brock?"  I asked. 

    "No" Brock said.  "My contract was for Morcant only."

 "The Necromancers at the College of Magic, pay good money for body parts especially the sect known as the Vivisectionists." Belg replied. 

     With a disgusted look Dr Zhindzhe replied, " I see." 

 "They met up with Rat and El' Tari went and broke into the manor and only managed to kill the Head Chef and his assistant in the process. They found the list in Morcants office and escaped out the window with his bodyguard Thetmus Amok Saluk hot on their heels." 

     "What was on the list?"  I asked. 

 "None of your business good Doctor." Belg #6 replied. "But anyways that completed their night. Their performance on this was so good that Rat referred them to Brickface for potential hiring and the next day, Brickface's body guard showed up and told them that they would meet him on the 22day of Skullsflame." 

     "I seem to have heard a lot about Damien and Kalanaghar, what about Ivanor."  I said.   

     "Ohh he was around" Belg #6 said. 

 "He seemed keen on meeting someone, anyone, so he came to the Cup and hired a hooker to have dinner with him. After he had finished his dinner earlier Claudia showed up and talked to Kalanaghar and Damien she saw Ivanor and simply stared at him before she left." Belg #6 said. 

 "Anyways over the next 4 days Damien and Kalanaghar visited Fendril again and then went and Visited the Hag's Eye and Vespa, Fendrils primary comeptition in District 9. She is a Night hag and had strange habits. She seemed to be an absent minded old woman unless someone were talking about children or poisons and then she was all business. Funny thing about Vespa, she has a couch in her parlor at the back of her shop that has a couch made out of baby bones and apparently it still cries when it gets sat on and she put a curse on Fendril and his brother Loch took over. Loch was a little shaky as he was an alchemist and has worked long years with mercury and other toxic substances." 

     "Drug induced psychosis?"  I asked now with my curiosity peaked. 

 "No, he is crazy seeing and hearing things that no one else sees and hears and hes paranoid always flinching at sudden movements." Belg #6 confirmed. 

     "Ivanor also went and bought some new clothes at Capers Cloaks and things and then Claudia showed up again."  Belg #6 said. 

     "Humphhh for someone that is supposedly being followed, she sure spent alot of time going to the Cup."  Brock said.   

 "Belg #6 laughed and then looked at Brock with an appraising eye and said, "Maybe we should talk later Brock, I have some business opportunities that require a sharper eye for detail." 

 Brock simply shrugged and Belg #6 continued, "Anyway she had a Drow Wizard with her this time, Fel,Thiz, and Ivanor as well and she introduced Ivanor and Fel'Thiz to Damien and Kalanaghar. She then went on to tell them that she had a powerful backers and that she would need them to steal the evidence for her." 

 "Claudia also began to talk about hiring them and said that she had backers powerful enough o protect them from retaliation but she would not finalize anything until she had as much information as her people could gather. She left and then Fel'thiz and the guys talked over strategy and their roles in the ensuing break in." 

     "Interesting, so Claudia was needing something retrieved and these guys were going to do it?"  I asked.   

 "Well theres a twist Brock put in." He cleared his throat and began "Kalanaghar and Fel'thiz talked in the drow hand language and Kalanaghar found out that Claudia was a wizard and has been in the city searching for something and has now apparently located what ever it was she was looking for." 

     "That's the twist?" I asked. 

 "No," He said, The next day Brickface called them in for a meeting at his office and Ivanor kinda got swept up in all of this. Anyway, they all three got hired on in Brickfaces organization and were basically told that they would be required to do some missions but nothing that would compromise them with other legitimate organizations like the Underworld and their respective churches. They accepted." 

 "So they are part of the Crime Network in Rath now, how very interesting but I still do not see where this twist comes in." I said calmly. 

 "Well a couple days later Brickface told that he had a mission for them. They were to defend a warehouse that was going to be broken into and something was going to be stolen. Apparently this came from Brickface's boss, Mr Sleep and had a high priority." 

 "Brickface gave them 16 of Rats gangsters and 3 Gnolls as well as money for traps to put in the warehouse to used to defend it. They also told them that there was a teleport block up and that anyone that came in would have to kick the door down literally fight their way through their minions and then face Ivanor, Kalanaghar, and Damien as well as Rat and El' tari at the center of the dungeon so to speak." Brock finished. 

 I mulled this over and said, "Thats backwards. Usually they are not the bosses that must be defeated at the center of the dungeon so to speak. They have minions to use against those who will be coming after whatever they are guarding...interesting." 

 With a rumbling laugh Belg #6 said, " Indeed, given that there is a lot of room for them to double cross Claudia or Brickface in this, it should be an interesting event to say the least." 

 "Well they may not do either and surprise us all." I said. "Nothing is set in stone they have proven to be resourceful, if a little naive in their dealings so who knows what could actually happen." 

     Belg #6 and Brock shared a long knowing look and Brock said only time will tell then.   

 "We are a treacherous lot Dr Zhindzhe and this opportunity is almost to good to pass. Someone is going to get screwed before this plays out." Belg #6 said sagaciously. 

     "Indeed Belg#6, but the who is still up in the air."  I returned.

********************Next the Reverse Dungeon****************


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## akira1 (Aug 17, 2008)

Day 25 Flameskull 5th year New Era 
 The open patio atop the Patrician was well known through out the city of Rath for its excellent wine lists and the privacy that was ensured to its clients by the owner Jama Haldonix a man of no small means within Rath. The colorful partitions that separated the guests on this, the highest and most expensive level of his restaurant and day spa were made of darkwood and enchanted with several spells to deter listeners and those who would attempt to look over them. All in all one could be fairly certain that they would not be recognized by anyone who happened to take a casual or not to casual glance in into the privacy provided by the partitions. 

 Dr. Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe waited patiently for his guest to arrive and idly stirred his finger in the top of a fine crystal glass of rothbury black. The view of the city afforded by the height of the patrician was spectacular even if the Scions Spire stood like a knife in the middle of it all. A variety of people flew through the skies of the overcrowded city on various means, rugs, broomsticks, energy discs, mounts, and by their own magical or psionic means. Below the streets were choked with the traffic of the city state itself and was no less colorful or dramatic that the air traffic which abounded. The people of all races clogged the streets below and the babble of them reached the Doctor faintly as he was lost in his own musings. 

The heat of the "day" if the lessening of gloom that occurred under the overcast continent could be called that had not yet arrived and the normally sulfurous stifling breeze which blew was somewhat refreshing if no less pungent. The partition behind which the doctor sat opened slowly and a tall statuesque female walked in with an unconscious grace. She appeared to be made from opalescent marble and had black hair which spilled to her waist in a glorious black cascade. Her features were solid and more handsome than beautiful and her lips were full and very red. Her eyes though were pale gray and very cold. She had the bone structure of those native to the Domains of Malekith and bore herself with a tremendous dignity. 

     Coming to his feet, Dr Zhindzhe said, "Please Madam have a seat."   
 Accepting with a gracious nod of her long slender neck she glided to a chair and sat, calm as ice and stared at Dr Zhindzhe as he sat down and replaced the napkin in his lap. 

     "Wine?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked her indicating his crystal carafe.

     "Of Course Doctor Zhindzhe... was it?"  She asked. 

"Yes, Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe"  I said.   

     She looked at the doctor archly for a minute and said, "Your from the Southern Kingdoms....Shezur by your name and accent."   

 Dr Zhindzhe blinked and looked slightly startled then quickly regained his composure saying, "I am indeed my Lady. Since were are playing guessing games, let me venture a guess about you." 

 She simply sat staring defiantly at Dr Zhindzhe as he said, "You are from the Domains of Malekith most likely of one of the noble houses that proliferate there in the shadow of the Lich King. You also are the woman known as Claudia Ravenbrow in Rath...a nomenclature that if I am mistaken is not.." 

 With am imperious gesture she cut Dr Zhindzhe off and hissed, "Who I am is not important and I do not have all day to play one ups manship games with you good Doctor. I have something important to relate and as far as I know, you have been collecting information on these particular "adventurers"." 

     "I have indeed." 

     "Good"  She said. "Attend Doctor, my time is limited and I may have to leave at a moments notice."   

     "By all means then Ms......" 

     With a wry smile she said, "Call me the Cold Lady in this place."  
     "Uhhh very well, Cold Lady, your story?"  Dr Zhindzhe prompted. 
 "The events I am about to relate, when looked back upon by future generations will quite possibly been seen as a turning point in the history of our world." She began dramatically. 

     "How do you mean Madam?"  I said slightly taken back by the heat in her voice. 

 "A critical decision has been made, One that cannot be reversed and one that has far reaching implications and .....consequences. I will begin with a quick segway into another person that has become incorporated with this group and then move on to what I was talking about." 

    "By all means Cold Lady proceed!"  I said enthusiastically. 

 "His name is Valen Nairek and he arrived in the city state of Rath on Day 1 of Skullsflame. As was appropriate, he presented himself at the Wizard's Guild and met with the Necromancers in the crypt and toured the facility under the guidance of Orororopal who is apparently the secretary of the Guild." The Cold Lady said. 

 "In any event, Orororopal is quite the character, she seems to take perverse delight in showing off her deformity, an eye the size of a teacup on her left cheek that makes a horrid sucking sound each time she blinks and she also talks slow and very stilted." 

 "Interesting, that obsession, if you will, of over compensation of an obvious deformity...has it ever occurred to her to have it fixed by one of the local wizards or clerics or at one of the Chop Shops?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 ""I doubt it" The Cold Lady returned. "She seems to derive intense pleasure off of making people uncomfortable from it. In any event, she gave Valen the tour and then directed him to the Crypt where the Necromancers were holed up in the Guild. He went there and met the leader of them, Alm, and was advised as to the actions he was allowed to take within the city state and of the factions within the Necromancers themselves." 

     "Factions within the Necromancers!  I thought that as a whole they were a faction."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 "Apparently the faction has subsets within it. The Vivisectionists, The Bone Keepers, and the Soul Takers. Each one is interested in some perverse form of Necromancy." 

      "How very interesting."  Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

 "Well to get to the point I ran into Valen as he was moving into his room in the wizards guild. At the time I was being followed by my enemies, the Mantis Man and his compatriots and was unable to shake them really. Valen was standing in the hall and this was early on in my search for the object." 
     "An object?"  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 "Yes, we will get to that. In the mean time though I had certain suspicions and knew ahead of time that I would need a team to break this thing out. So I approached Valen and prepped him for it by extending a hand in friendship." 

      "Friendship!?"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed.   

 "Well it was all pure farce. I may have needed him later and it never hurts to be on speaking terms with others of diverse talents. The mantis man showed up and I fled again leaving an invitation to meet at a later date." 
     "Did you ever follow up?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

     "No, Other matters came up that required my attention and He sorta of vanished from the guild."   

     "Vanished?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Well he moved into the city. At the direction of Alm, he sought out another member of his society that worked in the nightclub known as Heaven one Lady of Ash." 

     "I have heard of Heaven, its run by Creamy Jade and her familiar Camilla right."  Dr Zhindzhe stated. 

 The Cold LAdy leveled a very stern and disapproving look at Dr Zhindzhe at this point and said stiffly, "Yes, It is "good" Doctor." 

     Clearing his throat Dr Zhindzhe retorted, "Ahem, don't deny a man his pleasures Madam."   

 "Well in any event, Creamy Jade is a Morelandi jesabell that has polymorphed her familiar, a cat in this case into a voluptuous female companion. Neither one of them wear very much in the way of clothes and in general they are classless and uncouth. The Lady of Ash is an information Broker and liaison between the Wizards Guild and the Underworld for District 9. She informed Valen of her obligations and stated that she would look for work for him." 

 Dr Zhindzhe simply nodded at this for the Cold Lady to continue, which she did after his nod, "Valen in the mean time took up residence at a place called Mom Haggadahs flop house. She is a crone and spent most of her time complaining about children or grumbling about anything." 

     "Isn't she the one that has the sweat shop in the front of her flop house."  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

     "Yes, a very visible reminder of the consequences of not paying on time."  the Cold Lady said. 

      "I see, so this crone was crotchety and mean."  Dr Zhindzhe said.

 "You have no idea." the Cold Lady said. "In any event over the next 2 weeks, Valen managed to acquire a small street gang of urchins called the Scabs and was led by a buck toothed human male named Scamp. he apparently paid them really well initially and Scamp locked onto him." 

"He acquired a street gang, for what purpose?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 
 "Initially to help him get through the crowds but after paying so well, scamp hired a couple more children to help him and they proclaimed themselves as a gang with Valen backing them." 

     "Isnt that dangerous, considering that there are real gangs with real backers in district 9!?"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed.   

 "Very much so," The Cold Lady replied, " but Scamp seems to be a bright one and he bribed some of the other gangs to leave his guys alone and after a while they stopped getting the hard looks even. The Lady of Ash eventually showed up and told Valen that she had a connection for him with Brickface in District 9. Which he took." 

     "So this is where they all come together."  Dr Zhindzhe mused.   

 "Not exactly. Valen worked out a deal with Rat first to get to meet Brickface. He basically traded Scamp for a meeting with Brickface where he did not have to prove his credentials before hand." 

     "What do you mean by prove his credentials?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Usually Brickface likes to have the people that work for him assessed by someone that works for him. this usually requires them to do any number of various jobs before he actually meets them. Valen because of Scamp had some clout going into this meeting so he had a little more room than the average person in this situation." The Cold Lady explained. 

     "That sounds very logical and sound to me.  So he met Brickface and then what?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

     "Brickface made the final deal between himself and Valne's mysterious backers."   

     "But Valen has no mysterious backers!"  The Doctor exclaimed. 
 "I know this and so do you, but Brickface does not do not think he will live with this perceived imbalance of power though. You can rest assured that his pet diviner, Amelia will be looking into Valen's background with a fine toothed comb." the Cold Lady replied. 

     "And then..."  Dr Zhindzhe replied.   

 "The Cold Lady simply smiled very unpleasantly and then went on, "Well on the 23rd day of Flameskull, Valen was introduced to Kalanaghar and Damien and they formulated a plan to defend a warehouse with the item in it." 

     "Ahh the mysterious item you had been seeking."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   
 Clearing her throat the Cold Lady said,"They were in the warehouse where the item was being kept along with Rat, El'Tari and 19 of Rat's Nightstalkers." 

     "Really, where was Ivanor?"   

 "No one knows" The Cold Lady replied "Perhaps if he were there though what happened would not have happened." The Cold Lady said with some finality. 

     "What Happened!?"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

     The Cold Lady leaned in and in a low whisper she said"........"


********************To Be Continued************************


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## akira1 (Aug 19, 2008)

A psychological Profile of Valen Nairak 
by Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe 
PhD in Clinical Psychology 

Initial Impression: Valen Nairak appeared to be his stated age, and also did not appear to be malnourished. He was dressed rather glumly in flowing black robes and had a flat affect and blunted emotional displays. The client has dark tanned skin, dark eyes and hair which is common for the region he was born in, The Domains of Malekith in Southern Garsis. He appeared to be composed and did not seem overly distracted by the things around him or the strange environment he was placed in. He simply sat and stared unconcernedly. The client was oriented x3 and after appeared to have good recall as he was able to repeat a short list of items, scepter, tarrasque, and Lich King, back to me after an extended period of time. 

Clinical Documentation: The records used for this interview include diverse documents from Valen's parents, school transcripts, and a 1:1 interview with the client himself. 

Family Assessment: According to collateral documents, Valen is the youngest child of Dieren and Yayra Nairak. He has an older male sibling, Dieren Jr, and a older female sibling, Loran, as well. The client stated that his sister had been named for a deceased grandmother. According to Valen, his parents "never seemed to notice my antics" and he often made fun of his sister by "taking things only to place them in obvious locations, where she should have looked." Valen did not indicate the nature of the relationship that he shared with his mother nor his older brother except that he said my father and brother are "just alike." The client would not elaborate on this assessment he made. According to Valen and several collateral documents, the preferred form of punishment in his household was "beatings". According to Valen, he was not noticed by his parents except when he had done something "mischievous" at this the client did laugh grimly and he went on to say that at a young age he was sent away from home for some prank he had played on his father. Valen would not elaborate on this but according to the collateral documents, the client apparently caused a business deal his father was working on to go awry with another of his "antics". When confronted with this information Valen simply stared at this clinician. Valen did say that he had "forgotten about his family" in the long year s since he was sent away. 

Social Assessment: According to Valen, his years at school did not prove to be any better for him. He described himself as an "outcast" amongst his peers at school. He stated that they were "jealous at how well I did in my studies compared to them." When asked about the other aspects of his education, Valen made non committal responses or simply ignored the questions all together except for when asked about what he studied. He came to life so to speak. According to Valen, he studied Necromancy. He stated, "I was instructed in the arts of necromancy and I embraced its power." Apparently there was one bright spot in Valens educational rearing. A headmaster at the school seemed to have protected him. According to the collateral documents, the Headmaster saved him and saw to his promotion after a spell failed and nearly destroyed Valen during a spell duel. 

Substance Abuse: This is not indicated in the collateral documents. Valen simply stared at me unblinking when asked this question. 

Aggression: There is no reported history of aggression. When asked about aggression Valen said, "In time my power will be the greatest in all the realms and when the time arrives, all will know the name of Valen, and fear it." 

Elopement:  There is no reported history of this in the collateral documents.   

Legal: According to the collateral documents, Valen has no past legal history. When asked about delinquent behaviors, Valen replied, "The ability to control a living being is a parlor trick but the reanimation of dead flesh is an awesome tool." When asked to elaborate on whether he was a grave robber, Valen remained characteristically tight lipped. 

Clinical Formulation 

Depression:  95% SEVERE The client had several or all of the following 
characteristics. 
-  Inability to express his mood 
-  Few to no friends and no motivation to acquire new ones 
-  Preoccupation with death 
-  Little to no emotional expression 
-  Isolation 

Paraphilia:  80%  High The client had several or all of the following characteristics. 
-  Indication of non normalized behaviors 
-  Obsession with non normalized behaviors 

Megalomania:  75% HIGH The client had several or all of the following characteristics. 
-  Grand thoughts of himself not ground in reality 
-  Paranoid beliefs of persecution by others 
-  Feelings of superiority or stated ascension over reality 


Axis I:     296.24  Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features    
               297.1   Delusional Disorder 
               302.9   Paraphilia NOS 
               312.9   R/O Disruptive Behavior Disorder NOS  

Axis II:    301.81  Narcissistic Personality Disorder  

Axis III:   V71.09  None Assigned  

Axis IV:    Problems with primary support system, problems interacting with social environment. 

Axis V:  GAF = 45


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## akira1 (Aug 20, 2008)

Dr Zhindzhe held his breath as the Cold Lady leaned in and said in a heavy whisper, "They opened the Death Box." 

      "A Death Box!"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed, "What was in it?"   

"Evidence of something so evil and unnatural that its very presence in this city is a cause for concern amongst the most powerful on the Continent of Garsis." The Cold Lady said calmly as she leaned back and picked up her glass of wine. 

     "What are you talking about Cold Lady"  Dr Zhindzhe stammered, "What was in the box?"   

 "A body of something that was thought exterminated millinea ago." The Cold Lady said acidly as she tossed back her glass of wine and finished it in one gulp. 

 "I get ahead of myself though. These three adventurers had set up traps and their minions throughout this warehouse to assist them in protecting the death box and they caused considerable consternation for the minions I hired to break in to steal this very death box." The Cold Lady said as she leaned in with an intense hard look in her eyes. 

"Their traps were fairly easily overcome between Fel'Thiz's magic and the brute strength of the Dueregar and Human warrior they swept most of the resistance before them, until Fel'Thiz got surrounded and nearly killed." The Cold Lady said. 

 "Could you elaborate a little on their trap set up, I think it will provide an interesting look at the group dynamics between all of them." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

     With a withering look the Cold Lady said, "Of course Doctor."   

 "The warehouses main entrance was a long hallway that had a single exit off of it. Along one side of the wall they built murder holes and equipped their forces with long spears this was not very effective. They also built a false wall at the end of the hall and built a door in it, which they had barricaded with shafts of wood." The Cold Lady stated. 

 "Impressive. Tactically sound in that it controlled the flow of the enemy as well as providing advanced warning of the enemies approach." Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed, "How was it overcome?" 

 With a bland look the Cold Lady said, "The fighters and the cleric stood in front of everyone else and took the spear hits. The shaodw halfling rogue sneaked past and Fel'thiz turned invisible and theynwalked to the end of the hall where they had to overcome the door. Fel Thiz used a knock spell and it opened the door, shattering the wooden shafts that were holding it closed." 

    "How anti climatic."  Dr Zhindzhe moaned.   

 With a sardonic smile the Cold Lady continued, "There were three goblins at the end of the hallway after the door. The dueregar and the human fighter charged to the attack but Fel' Thiz put them to sleep with a sleep spell. Meanwhile the Cleric of Orcant the Blood Letter, cast Divine favor on himself." 

     "Things are not looking to good for the adventurers at this point it would seem."  Dr Zhindzhe mused.   

 "No it wasn't but there were a couple of surprises. Once my team was past the 3 goblins after the door, they came upon another hallway where the majority of their forces were located. There were 3 Gnolls and 7 Goblins in this hallway and the human fighter, a mutant with a prehensile tail which wielded a mace charged." The Cold Lady stated. 

     "It seems like he was charging alot."  Dr Zhindzhe noted clinically, "Did it ever get him into trouble?" 

     "Oh yes,"  the Cold Lady replied, "He was cut off from the rest of his party by a portcullis they had installed." 

 "Excellent" Dr Zhindzhe said, and then noticing the withering look on the Cold Lady's face he said, " I am a professional madam and I have a vested interest in the well being of these adventurers." 

 "Make sure you remain impartial in this Doctor." The Cold Lady said sibilantly. "I am enjoying our discourse, I would hate for things to turn ugly." 

     "Indeed Lady, me as well."  The Doctor returned coldly. 

 "In any event" the Cold Lady continued, "The human fighter suffered some serious injuries at this point and the Dueregar enlarged himself to large sized while the cleric of Orcant shattered the portcullis with the shatter spell. Fel'Thiz and the shadow halfling then moved into the hallway to back up the human mutant. Fel' thiz fired off a scorching ray at one of the gnolls but he missed." 

 Dr Zhindzhe waited patiently as the Cold Lady poured herself another glass of the wine and then she continued, "Fel' thiz then put 4 of the goblins that were facing the human fighter to sleep while the shadow halfling crept down the hall looking for an opportunity to strike. A room that they had not searched opened and 6 golbins swarmed out surrounding Fel'Thiz and nearly incapacitating him." 

     "Excuse me if I cheer dear Lady."  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 With a bleak smile the Cold Lady continued," The cleric and the shadow halfling turned to help Fel' Thiz while the Dueregar charged to help the human fighter. The dueregar cut down one of the bugbears while the human took out the goblin. Fel' Thiz unleashed a burning hands and wiped out most of the goblins that were on him before he retreated to drink a potion." 

     "It would seem that my cheering was a little premature."  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 "So it would seem" The Cold Lady said with a chill little smile. "In any event, the Human and the Dueregar finished off the other 2 gnolls and goblins along with the cleric and the shadow halfling at the other end of the hall. They then took a minute to regroup and drink healing potions." 

     "The end approaches I take it?"  Dr Zhindzhe inquired. 


**********************To Be Continued**********************


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## akira1 (Sep 2, 2008)

*The End Maybe*

"Yes, there was only one more hallway they had to get through and the shadow halfling searched it for traps and found nothing. They followed it to a steel door." The Cold lady stated. 

     "This was where the adventurers were located I presume?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Yes, they had sealed themselves into this room along with the leaders of the Nightstalkers, Rat and El'Tari. The Shadow Halfling easily picked the door and the human fighter charged in followed by the shadow halfling who avoided a swinging block trap that Damien, hidden in sight of the door had released." The Cold lady stared calmly across the table at Dr Zhindzhe as she related this story and then she continued," The rest of my team then entered the room where the death box was and began taking out the opposition." 

     "This death box can you describe it?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.

 "Of course, it was 7 feet long and about 4 feet wide. It emitted a chill cold in the air immediately around it and it even dampened sound a little." She replied. 

     "Was this due to the nature of the box?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

     "I wish" The Cold Lady said.  "It was the nature of the boxes occupant."   

     "I see."  Dr Zhindzhe said he then motioned for the Cold Lady to continue. 

"In any event, Damien began sneaking up on Fel' Thiz and Kalanaghar and El' Tari moved to flank the giant dueregar whom El' tari initially attempted to disarm. Rat shape shifted into a half goblin half rat man and attacked the shadow halfling. while Valen summoned his necromantic powers and sapped the dueregars strength." 

   "Sounds like the adventurers did pretty well." Dr Zhindzhe replied smugly. 

 "Looks can be deceiving good doctor. Fel Thiz noticed Damien and unleashed another burning hands on him which caused Damien to flee. The Human mutant charged Kalanaghar and took him down and Rat and the shadow halfling seemed embroiled in their own personal fight. As this continued, Fel'thiz dropped Damien with a couple of magic missiles and the human warrior began to advance on Valen. El'Tari began fighting defensively against the dueregar and the cleric of Orcant struck Rat with the torments of Orcant." 

    "Hmmmph"  Dr Zhindzhe replied.  "For all of this, they still survived it would seem." 

     "Indeed, Luck is a fickle mistress,"  the Cold Lady replied.  "Valen opened the death box and released the evidence."   

     "He what!" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

"He opened the death box and the creature came out and began slaughtering everything close to it. The creature itself was completely black and had gashes where its eyes should have been, these gashes leaked blue smoke and their temperature around it dropped noticeably as well as an increase in the silencing effects. It bit the human fighters face off and sucked all of his internal juices and fluids out of the hole in his face. It then began to grow and sprouted a small pair of wings." 

     "By the lords below!"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed startled at such a gruesome description, " What did they do after this?" 

 "My team fled the room. Valen, either through gross stupidity or pure luck, fell to his knees and said that he was there to worship the beast ignoring the fear and dread the creature engendered in everyone else." The Cold Lady continued. 

 "I see, so everyone was fleeing, Valen was prostrate before the creature, and Kalanaghar and Damien were both incapacitated." 

 "You have amazing powers of observation Doctor. The beast began to go after Valen screaming telepathically the whole time when it suddenly stopped and smashed through the inner wall of the warehouse and fell upon my team, Rat and El' tari, all of whom were fleeing. It killed all of them except for Rat, El'Tari, and Fel'Thiz I presume, I have not seen or heard from him and there are no reports that he was slain in the conflict." The Cold Lady continued. 

     "So Valen rescued the other two and then they left."  Dr Zhindzhe stated.

 "Yes, but he remained prostrate for a while fearing that the creature would return to consume him and then he took potions from his fallen companions and poured them down their throats reviving them. They then left taking the death box with them and looting the corpses of the fallen along the way." She said contemptuously. 

"Thats it then."  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Yes Doctor, thats it" The Cold Lady stated as she stood and began fastening the veil across her mouth. She stood and began to leave and as she left she turned and said, "If you see them Doctor, tell them that our business is far from finished and when the day does come, I am going to enjoy turning them over to the master torturers in the City of the Damned."

 Dr Zhindzhe sat and reflected on what he had just heard. He also memorized every aspect of the Cold Lady's appearance, she was definitely one he did not want to run into by "surprise". His analytical mind began to put a few things together about the lovely Cold Lady, after the fact and a pin she wore on her upper left shoulder, a circle with a pyramid in it with an eye at the apex of the pyramid figured prominently into her past the Doctor was sure of it, now if only he could remember where he had seen that particular symbol before. 

*********************To Be Continued***********************


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## akira1 (Sep 8, 2008)

*Aftermath*

Dr Zhindzhe looked around as he stood on the semi crowded street in the 9th district of Rath. The three story black building before him had only 1 entrance and the Doctor waited patiently as he stood before the door. Thinking on his last meeting, the Dr Zhindzhe reflected on the nature of the group he had decided to chronicle and mused at their ability to land in the middle of things. 

As these thoughts were rolling through his head, a large eyeball appeared in the door and dimly within the magical orb a figure of a man appeared and said in a high pitched voice, "Yes, may I help you?" 

Straightening his black travel suit the Dr said, " I am Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe and I am here for my appointment with Brickface." 

"The door is open come up the stairs and nock on the door at the top and I will let you in." The high pitched voice replied. 

Silently the door opened into a large dimly lit interior room. Sitting along the back wall and floating 3 feet off of the ground was a large black bow approximately 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. For an instant, Dr Zhindzhe stared at the Death Box and then he began to climb the narrow stair that led to a solid looking wooden door with no landing. Wrapping on the door lightly it opened and the Doctor stepped into the room beyond. 

The waiting room to Brickface's office was plain. The floors were made of wood and the walls had wooden panels, all plain and non descript, covering the stone wall. There were 4 chairs along the far wall and seated behind a cluttered looking desk sat the man the Doctor had seen in the Orb below. There was one other door that was opposite the one the Doctor came into this room from and it also had that solid look to it. 

Eddie 2 Wand as he was known on the streets was an odd looking man. His features were square and blocky, almost like they had been hand crafted instead of born naturally, and he had black hair and sparkling over bright green eyes. He was dressed simply in a cotten shirt and trousers and strapped across his chest was a billaro with 5 visible wands tucked into it. 

With a broad smile Eddie 2 wand said, " Come in Dr Zhindzhe, Brickface wil see you in a minute." 

"Thank you" Dr Zhindzhe replied and at a gesture from Eddie he sat down along the far wall and waited. Eddie for his part, once the Doctor was seated, began to go through a large ledger. 

After a few minutes, the other solid looking door opened and a Female Drow strode out purposefully. She moved with the grace of a hunting cat and only spared the Doctor the briefest of hard stares as she passsed him. Her tight fitting leather armor made soft whisking sounds as she passed and her mohawk of brilliant white hair gave her an exotic look that was not, the Doctor noted, a bad thing. In the wake of her passing a gruff voice said, "Send in the Doctor Eddie." 

With a smile and a nod of his head toward the room with the gruff voice Eddie continued with his work. Doctor Zhindzhe stood and then walked into the Office of Brickface, Turf Boss of 1/4 of District 9 and employer of the adventuring group known as The Tainted. 

Brickface's office was as simple as the waiting room was. The wood panels in here though were replaced with opaque glass stell windows that allowed Brickface to look out on the streets below but not be seen doing it. There was a large heavy looking desk and a single chair opposite which the Doctor took for his own. The only ornamentation on his desk was a large adamantite gauntlet that had gems embedded in the knuckles and in the center of the palm and top of the hand. 

Brickface himself was a hideously deformed Orc. His left hand had its three middle fingers fused into one single lump of rough looking flesh and the left side of his face looked as if it had been pressed into a brick wall and the imprint of the bricks had stuck with him. He was also muscular but in his squinty black pig like eyes, the Doctor noted, there was a devious intelligence and animilistic cunning. 

With an expansive gesture Brickface said gravely, "Welcome Doctor. I hope your stay in Rath has been a good one so far." 

"It has Brickface. There are some pecularities here that simply do not exist in the south." Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

"I would imagine so, but you did not come here to debate me about the differences of the Northern city states and the Kingdoms of the south." Brickface said. 

"No, I did not. I came actually to talk to you about a group of mercenaries that you employ, the Tainted and specifically their involvement in the last 6 days of the month of Skullsflame Year 5 N.E." Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

"Ahhh, of course." Brickface replied, "but I was actully expecting this call to come from one of the Cadre and not an outsider to the city." Brickface grumbled. 

"Why is that?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Let me explain. That 7 days encompased alot of strange happenings." Brickface said simply. 

"By all means Brickface proceed." Dr Zhindzhe prodded. 

"Well you know that I was the one who gave them the warehouse protection job with the Death Box right?" Brickface asked. 

"Yes, I believe I have that here in some of the notes I took when I talked to Belg #6..." Dr Zhindzhe said as he began to flip back through his notepad. 

"Yes, well after that all ended, they covered the Deathbox with a tarp and came here to my offices and spoke to Eddie 2 Wand." Brickface said. 

"They were wandering what to do with the Deathbox and Eddie of course did not know what they were talking about. He directed them to go get some sleep and then come back tomorrow to talk to me. They returned to the Devil's Cup where the Necromancer conveniently stated that he had to go to the bathroom and ran into Ivanor who had curiously been absent during the protection racket. They explained to him what had happened and he immediately drew his sword and went looking for the Necromancer." 

"Why would he do something like that?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Some obscure point in his faith I would guess." Brickface replied, "But anyway he never got to find him because he was confronted by Iris at the bottom of the stairs and she told him in no uncertain terms what would happen if there was blood shed in the Cup." 

"I see, that Iris is quite a remarkable lady. If I had not married all of my wives for my current station in life I would definitely take her in." Dr Zhindzhe mused. 

"She is at that but has a tongue on her thay can flay the hide off of a dragon at 30 paces and her temper...." Brickface said. 

"Those are things that can be smoothed out with time." Dr Zhindzhe replied, " so what was their next move?" 

"Ivanor decided that he would go track the beast down but before he could get going good, the Priestesses of the Scion moved in in force and quarantined my portion of District 9 and imposed martial law." Brickface grumbled, "I lost alot of money over those 2 days." 

"So Ivanor never got to search for the beast?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"No he was stopped just outside of the Devil's Cup by a Squad of Priestesses and Templars and redirected to return to the Inn until further notice at which point he began to say that he worshipped the god of Death and offered his faiths services." Brickface said. 

"To one of the Scions Priestesses!?" Dr Zhindzhe spluttered. 

With a dry chuckle Brickface replied, "Yeah I would have paid real money to see the look on her face when he said that." 

"Indeed. So they were confined to the Inn for how long?" Dr Zhindzhe probed. 

"Until the next morning. When they had been told to come see me. They were heading down the stairs with the Deathbox when they saw one of the Scion' Priestesses, Iselia, in the middle of the common room with 3 armed templars taking peoples names. At this point Damien and Kalanaghar returned to their room while Ivanor pressed on intent on returning to his church to report the information that he had been given by his companions." 

"The description of the beast?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Yes, apparently he has seen a creature like this before and thought this was significant." Brickface replied. 

"Ahhh it would seem so." Dr Zhindzhe said as he nodded for Brickface to continue. 

"Iselia, directed Ivanor to get in line and wait his turn when he simply attempted to walk out of the Cup." Brickface replied. 

"What did he do then?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"He got in line and waited his turn. When he was directed to talk to the Priestess he went and she asked him his name and if he was staying in the Cup." Brickface grunted. 

"He replied approrpaitely to these questions I take it." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"Yes he did. He did ask what was going on and the Priestess told him that there was a mage duel somewhere in #9 and in the fight last night and a potentially deadly interdimensional disease was released and they were here making sure that it got contained and did not spread. She also stated that they would be around on the next day to collect blood samples from the people in this area." Brickface said in his gravely voice.

Narrowing his eyes Dr Zhindzhe said, "That would be the same night that the creature was released from the Deathbox?" 

"Your sharp Doctor. Ivanor then began to offer his churches services to this Priestess and she took an interest in him and asked what his stake in all of this was while he was within her zone of truth spell." Brickface replied. 

"She had a zone of truth spell cast!?" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

"She was a member of the Scions Secret Police, the Cadre and they were looking for information and people." Brickface replied blandly. "Ivanor was unaffected by the spell though and managed to squeak by but not before he stuck his foot in his mouth." 

"What do you mean by that?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"He was informed by the Priestess that he would be watched mainly because of his questions and he was directed not to leave District 9 for fear of spreading the contagion." Brickface said. 

"Thats interesting." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"Yeah well Ivanor left District 9 anyway and went to his church." Brickface replied. 

"In direct defiance of the Priestess directive!" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

"Yes he did. He bluffed his way by one of the Templar Guardsmen and made his way into District 10 and to his church. He noticed to that the Scions guardsmen were not stopping people from coming in but they were not letting anyone leave." Brickface answered. 

************************To Be Continued*******************


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## akira1 (Sep 18, 2008)

*A Disturbing 7 days part 2*

"Thats peculiar. Usually in a Quarantine you control and isolate the area that is suspected of being infected." Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

 Leaning back in his chair, Brickface stared directly at Dr Zhindzhe and said, 
" Well Ivanor made it to his church and reported to the Cusp what he had found out and he received a bit of direction as well." 

Shifting under that direct gaze Dr Zhindzhe waved his hand indicating that Brickface should continue. 

"He reported to the Cusp what he had seen and the Cusp told him that this was important and he also said 'what is unrelated is related and the whole cannot be seen without the parts'. The Cusp also informed Ivanor that he would contact the Dead Advocates of Cambion as well since his information seemed to implicate the Scions Clergy as being allied or at least knowing about the creature that had been killing the Dreaming Oracles at the Church of Cambion in Rath." Brickface continued. 

     "The prophecy of Master Palimon and what is a Dead Advocate?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"As far as I understand these things, A Dead Advocate is a heavy hitter for the Church of Cambion. They only get called in on the most serious of matters, usually when a lot of people need to be killed. He also explained the nature of divine power to him." Brickface replied. 

" And that would be what?"  Dr Zhindzhe queried. 

"Well the power a deity wields is directly related to the number of souls he possesses. Souls translate into power. He also noted to Ivanor that the Scions new temple would be the largest temple structure on the continent and that his Priestesses had stepped up their sacrifices to him to nearly 1 soul per day." 

     Stoicly Dr Zhindzhe said, "Thats slightly disturbing." 

 With a hideous grin Brickface said, "Ivanor went to talk to Dead grace Bhutakken who was in his offices conferring with Sarchek, the Master of Fluids, over interpretations of their copy of the prophecies of the Dreaming Oracles of Cambion, the Nightmara Apocraphya." 

     "Matters seem to be spinning faster now."  Dr Zhindzhe commented. 

 "Yes, they are." Brickface replied, " When he got in to see the Dead Grace, Bhutakken seemed a little uncomfortable discussing these matters with Sarchek present but he pressed on and informed Ivanor that if the Scion were attempting to increase his status from Demi God to full blown Divinity, that would be a problem that all of the other churches would have to be called together to combat. He also pointed out that the other religions have churches in all cities while the Scions worship is confined to Rath." 

 "That is quite odd that even as a demi- god, the Scions clergy is concentrated in only 1 city-state. I mean Khayne the Bone lord is also a demi- god, but he has cult cells located in all of the major city- states as well." Dr Zhindzhe mused. 

     "Thats not all."  Brickface said, "It gets more interesting."   

"How so?"  Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

 "Ivanor went on to tell Bhutakken that Master Palimon may be a Dreaming Oracle or at least possess some minor talent in this area. Bhutakken took steps immediately to get Palimon located and moved to the church for safety. He then dismissed Sarchek and explained to Ivanor that he would consult with the other church heads in Rath. Bhutakken also told Ivanor that his information was very helpful and that he was needed currently where he was since his, Bhutakkens hands were tied he could not act directly but Ivanor was anonymous and could." Brickface said. 

     "Well confronting the Scions Priestesses is definitely not a way to stay anonymous."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

     With a nod of agreement Brickface said, "Thats definitely not the way to do it."   

     "So, while Ivanor was at his temple, what were Damien and Kalanaghar doing?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

      "Hiding in their room hoping to avoid the Cadre Priestess Iselia."  Brickface said. 

     "Did it work?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

 "Not exactly." Brickface said, "After Ivanor returned they searched the death boxes interior and found a scrap of parchment describing something called the Khabur Nico, or Black Heart and a way to collect and focus a vast amount of energy. They took this out of the box and one of the Templars was sent up to search for people who might be hiding and he found them in their rooms and told them to come down stairs and register. 
 "They were told that they would also be required to give blood tomorrow and that the District would be quarantined for 2 days. They also overheard Iselia asking Iris where Elvira, the owner of the Cup was and Iris told her that she had left." Brickface supplied. 

     Nodding for Brickface to continue, Dr Zhindzhe took out a new notepad to continue taking his notes. 

 "They then got the Deathbox and came to my office to report on what they had done on their mission. On the way they were confronted by a group of the Scions Priestesses and Templars and Damien talked them around them and they continued on unmolested up into my office where I told them that things were not as bad as all of that but that the employer was requiring that a chunk of their pay be given to him to pay for damages. I also put them on retainer and explained that the turf war was heating up and that my money couriers were being knocked off as well as the fact that I was basically blinded on the streets since Rat had gone into hiding and the Stalkers were so depleted in numbers that they could not resist the talons of Malice." 

     "Why was this uhhh Rat person in hiding and who is he?"  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 "He is the leader of the Stalkers and someone positively identified him as being at the warehouse the night the beast broke out. They became my money couriers." Brickface replied. 

     "Thats seems simple enough."  Dr Zhindzhe replied.   

 "Nothing is ever simple Doctor. Amelia wanted answers so she started questioning them rather closely at the direction of the Drow female about the Deathbox and its contents until they had answered the Drow Females questions adequately." Brickface said. 

     "Was this drow female the same one that just left your office before I came in?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

     "Yes."  Brickface said. 

"Who is she and whats her stake in this matter?"  Dr Zhindzhe probed. 

     "If I told you that good doctor, I would have to kill you."  Brickface said. 

     "I am beginning to get tired of people telling me that." Dr Zhindzhe said.     

     "In any event they got paid, left, and then they went to buy some new equipment and see Fendril."  Brickface said.   

      "The owner of the Broken Horn, right?" Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 "The same one. He also happens to be a retired bard and they took the scrap of paper they had found in the coffin to him to see if he could decipher it and maybe give them some answers as to what the Khabur Nico was." Brickface said. 

     "I will have to meet him. He has come up a number of times so far."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 "I wouldnt hold my breath for that." Brickface said, "But I get ahead of myself. At the Broken Horn Fendril told them that the Black heart was an Artifact from the past and he then deciphered the information on the scrap of parchment they had found." 

     "What did it contain?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "It was a detailed description of how to activate and use the Blackheart to collect the combined mental energies of all beings within a given radius concentrate and focus it for a specific task." Brickface said. 

     "Wouldn't that kill the people that had their mental energy taken in such a way."  Dr Zhindzhe asked startled. 

     "Yes, just like ripping out all of their souls."  Brickface replied.   


******************To Be Continued************************


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## akira1 (Oct 2, 2008)

"In any event Fendril was out of sorts and I dont know how reliable what he said was but he was also speaking of being watched and he said he saw the beast the other night along with two of the mantis men that had been following Claudia and thats when the unseen watchers began scrying on him. He also said seeing that creature had reminded him of something he had read in a book a long time ago but could not remember. At the direction of Damien, he made copies of the parchment they had brought him and then told them that he would keep looking for the book and his amulet and he would contact them when and if he found out anymore." 

"Well from the descriptions I have been given of the Fendril character, he is not the most mentally stable type." Dr Zhindzhe said dismissively. 

Shrugging Brickface said well after that they returned to the Cup and there they ran into a fellow named Kamal Issier some sort of noble or well to do merchant, Kamal proceeded to insult me and then attempted to buy the Ivanor, Kalanaghar, and Damien off." 

"What do you mean?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Well he told them that the people he worked for would be able to protect them better from what was coming than some lowly 'turf boss' he then told them that it was common knowledge on the streets that they were the ones involved in releasing the beast. Damien then out smarted him and got him to pay them 30k for useless information regarding the location of the deathbox and its contents. Kamal said it would take him a couple of days, after commenting on Damiens craftiness, to get them their funds but that he would meet them back at the cup in a couple of days." 

"Intriguing. But why had the Scions people not moved against them since they already knew where they were and that they were involved." Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"They were to busy doing damage control." Brickface replied. 

"Damage control!?" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

"Yes, they were kidnapping people and hauling them off in droves...people that had been in the area where the beast was released the night before and anyone that said they had seen it." Brickface said darkly.

"No witnesses means it never happened." Dr Zhindzhe concluded. 

At this point Dr Zhindzhe and Brickface shared a long look and then Brickface said, "Well after this encounter, they decided to sneak out of #9 because they did not want to give their blood to the Scions people." 

"That sounds very practical considering how shifty they seem to be." Dr Zhindzhe said a bit stiffly. 

"Yes, they managed to sneak past the guards and make it to Ivanor's Church where Ivanor informed Intombe, a Twilight Titan that is a member of his church that has also taken a vow of silence that they may need to double the guard at the main gates and Ivanor then went to find the Cusp." Brickface expounded. 

"Hmmmm did he think there would be an attack on his church?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"No, after leaving Fendrils and before they met Kamal, Kalanaghar saw one of the Mantis men outside of one of the windows to the Cup sniffing about." Brickface replied. 

"I see." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"Well, the Cusp had come up out of the crypts and was standing in his doorway to the outside when Ivanor found him and told him what had gone on. The Cusp directed Ivanor to bring them around to him through the cemetaries and not through the main temple." Brickface explained. 

"Why did he want them to go around that route." Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"To avoid being seen. Apparently there are some internal security issues with the Church of Cambion in Rath. In any event Ivanor gave the original copy of the parchemnt they had found in the deathbox to the Cusp and then wanted to share this information with Bhutakken." Brickface said plainly. 

"You say wanted to share..." Dr Zhindzhe pointed out. 

"Yeah the Cusp said that he would share this information and there was a small debate about this with Ivanor clearly not trusting the Cusp." Brickface said. 

"How did the debate end?" the Doctor asked. 

"The Cusp sealed them into his rooms in the crypt over night and in the morning he and Bhutakken came to release them at which point Bhutakken drafted Kalanaghar and Damien into services to help figure out what was going on." Brickface stated. 

"What did they do about their blood?" Dr Zhindzhe querried. 

"Sarchek made a bacteria that would eat their blood so that after a few hours any blood that was removed from their body, where it would not be replaced would be totally consumed." Brickface said with his deep guttaral voice. 

"Ingenious, so now they were clear to give their blood with no real repercussions." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"Yeah. they returned to the Cup gave blood and then made a money run for me to one of my clients, Purra the owner of the Faded Rose." Brickface said. 

"What sort of establishment is that?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"A high end whore house." Brickface replied, " and on their way there Damien spotted one of the Mantis Men following them and mamanged to make it not seem like he had noticed it. They then went in collected the money and had Edie 9 Fingers take them out through a secret back entrance to the Rose." 

"Why is she called Edie 9 fingers?" Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Your an upstanding person doctor, I would not want to sully you by describing the act that got her that nomenclature." Brickface chuckled. 

Sightly confused, Dr Zhindzhe said, "Alright....so after the Rose what did they do?" 

"They went to sleep and woke up the next morning on Day 27 of Skullsflame. They did another money run to Elric at Thy Rod and Thy Staff and on the way there they saw El Tari and some stalkers engage some of the Talons of Malice on the streets." Brickface said. 

"Well thats kind of pedestrian." Dr Zhindzhe commented. 

With a deep chuckle, Brickface said, "Well they split up at this point and Ivanor went to see if Fendril had found out anything. And Damien and Kalanaghar went to check in on the underworld about getting Kalanaghars weapon enchanted." 

Motioning for Brickface to continue, Dr Zhindzhe continued to write. 
"Ivanor made it to Fendrils shop and Fendril asked if they had gotten the letter he sent to them at the Cup. Ivanor said they had not and Fendril told him that he had found the book as well as his amulet of non detection." Brickface replied. 

"Ahh now we get some of the juicy details." Dr Zhindzhe said warming to his subject. 

"With a grunt Brickface said, " He read a scrap from the book that he assumed had been written over a millinea ago that said 'Desmo grevius tuon da servisuis Shoovius Commitus haras de legonsa.' to Ivanor." 
"The Shoon Imperium ended in a night of blood and fire." Dr Zhindzhe said flatly. 

"Right" Brickface confirmed. "Fendril also said that the creature they saw was from this era, that why it was so familiar to him but he did not know whether this creature was responsible for the fall of the Imperium or a result of the Imperiums fall. Ivanor asked after the Mantis Men and Fendril told him that they were a group within the wizards guild, called the Fell, that is believed to be the Guilds own internal policing force but in reality, they are connected to the Scion." 

"Telus hovasu re wandu milfuse?" Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"Telus wandu." Brickface replied. 

"Your highly educated arent you Brickface, to know the Old Tongue so well. You shabby appearance is a front I think that there is a dangerous intelligence behind those eyes." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

For one charged instance danger hung between the two of them and then visibly relaxing Brickface said, " I have done what I have needed to to survive." 

"Good enough for me." Dr Zhindzhe stated and then indicated that Brickface should continue. 

"In the Underworld, Damien found out that Belg #6 was now Belg #4 since two of the higher raking Belg's were hauled off by the Scions people and they also found out that the Wizards at the Wizards guild were all in some kind of conference." Brickface replied. 

"So also on this day the Quarantine was lifted." Dr Zhindzhe stated. 

"Yes, and Kalanaghar, Damien and Ivanor met and and came to see me where I layed out a plan to find the location of the Talons of Malice, who were led by someone called Kespian Black and warned them about potentially being bribed." 

"I see." Dr Zhindzhe said. 

"They informed me that this had probably already happened and they described their run in with Kamal Issier at which point Amelia left to look into the matter of Kamal Issier. I informed them that i had had it leaked that a large sum of my money was going to be transported by my best, the Tainted in an attempt to draw out the Talons." 

"Crafty. Did it work?" Dr Zhindzhe asked as he shifted in his chair. 

"Yes, as I told them, Amelia had woven certain spells into the chest that would allow her to find it anywhere in this dimension and then it would be a simple matter of us teleporting to the location and finishing them off. I will admit at this point I was becoming desperate to end this matter." Brickface said. 

*********************To Be Continued**********************


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## akira1 (Oct 6, 2008)

*An end to 1 long Week.*

"I can understand that.  So the matter of Kamal was unrelated to the turf war?"  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 "Yes." Brickface replied. "They returned home and then woke up on the morning of the 28th. On this day Kespian's people did meet with them, a Blue woman and a minotaur met them in the Cup and told them that they would give them 1/4 of the money from the chest if they would betray me and kill everyone that I sent to help guard the money. She went on to explain that they would give them my area since they had been hired by an outside force to oust me." 

     "An outside force..."  Dr Zhindzhe mumbled. 

"Yes, meaning that this is all aimed at me personally."  Brickface said.   

"The twists keep coming."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

"Indeed, Ivanor attempted to find out who this outside force would be but the blue lady said she would not tell until they had some visible means of confirming their loyalty i.e. not until they killed the people and helped them get the money." Brickface commented. 

     "That certainly seems reasonable something for nothing has always been a pipe dream."  Dr Zhindzhe commented. 

"Well they came and told me what had been said and I altered my plan a little to accommodate the possibility that they might legitimately double cross me." Brickface said seriously. 

     Paying close attention Dr Zhindzhe said, "What did you do?"   

"I sent someone they had camaraderie with and at least got along with, ElTari and also Amelia scryed them through her crystal ball and stood by to step in if necessary." Brickface said soberly. 

     " Is that it?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

     "No, I had other contingencies for if they betrayed me." Brickface said with some finality. 

     Switching gears Dr Zhindzhe asked, " Well now that all the cards were on the table so to speak, what was the next move?"   

 "This is about as clear as muddy water Doctor," Brickface commented dryly, "but the morning of the 29th they got a visitation from Fendril. He sent an animal messenger to the Cup seeking out Damien and it said, 'Damien! Please Help me! My shop! They've come for me!" 

     With a hurried gesture Dr Zhindzhe said, " Go on Brickface."   

 "When they got to the Broken Horn, the place was on fire and Fendril was being led away by the leader of the Cadre, Opal Mardochan herself along with the book he had found earlier. Fendril had a bemused look on his face as he was escorted away." Brickface concluded. 

     "Thats to bad."  Dr Zhindzhe said, " I would have liked to have talked to him."   

 "In any event, Brickface said, "That evening they made the delivery for me and it did get ambushed by the Talons. In the ensuing fight all of the Stalkers except for one were killed, which pissed Amelia and El' Tari off to the point that they began to doubt the allegiance of the Tainted." 

     "Did they fight El'Tari?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"No they disabled the cart that was pulling the money chest and Amelia and some of my hitters showed up to lay down the smack. Amelia Disintegrated the Blue lady that had originally attempted to bribe them and then dropped a fireball on herself when she got surrounded by the enemy clearing them out fairly well." Brickface said with a certain amount of pride. 

     "So who got the money?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

"Kespian did. He took them, after healing the horse that was pulling the cart to his head quarters and then asked them to open the chest. Which Damien did, noticing that there was an illusory trap on it he opened the chest and thats when the real trap sprung." Brickface said decisively.

     "Do go on Brickface."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

"Amelia was able to scry the location and we had two Troll mutants spring from the chest. Also I had myself and some of my surviving people teleport directly to this place. Kespain fled and they discovered a painting of a man in this old manor the Talons had been holed up in." 

     Shifting again in his chair Dr Zhindzhe asked, "What significance does the painting have?"     

 "I was a painting of a man that was completely bald, has completely black eyes and a criss crossing network of chains on his bared chest." Brickface said. 

     "Thats just like the Priestesses of the Scion.... but it was a male?!"  Dr Zhindzhe said startled. 

     "Yeah, a male and thats not all, the name on the placard on the painting said his name was Lo'Malivious Shoovius." 

     "Lo' Malice Shoon."  Dr Zhindzhe said flatly.   

 "Yes," Brickface replied simply. "That same night after Amelia and El' Tari had words with them they returned to the Cup and were notified that Kamal Issier would be there tonight at 2300." 

     "I had nearly forgotten about him in all of this."  Dr Zhindzhe said calmly. 

 "He was just suddenly there when they were downstairs waiting for him and he was not alone. A robed and hooded figure was with him when he arrived and this figure gave off a chill cold and a its form seemed to be shifting as if it were out of phase or something." Brickface said dramatically. 

     "Fascinating."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 "Well Kamal told them that plans had changed and he had brought them their money which was on the table in front of him and his guest and that they needed to have the copies of the document they had found as well." Brickface said seriously. 

     "How did they know they had made copies."  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

 "he said that Fendril had told them and then his companion became impatient, stood up grabbed the table with the money on it with one arm and hurled it across the common room of the Cup with so much force that the table shattered." Brickface explained. 

      "Go on."  Dr Zhindzhe said simply.   

 "At this point, Kamal stood and activated his soul knife and the robed figure ripped off her robe and as she did her name echoed psychically across the room as Lo' Sarek Shoon and then a general fight broke out between them." 
     "Thats impossible."  Dr Zhindzhe said. "Their family was destroyed in the fall of the Shoon Imperium...."   

 "Thats what she said Doctor believe it or not." Brickface said matter of factly. "In any event Ivanor charged Kamal and laid him out with one stroke." 

     "Did he kill him?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

 "No, Lo' Sarek managed to mind blast him and telekinetically hurl a table across the room against his back and then Damien and Kalanaghar charged her." 

     Nodding DR Zhindzhe gestured for Brickface to continue. 

 "Ivanor found it very difficult to hit Lo' Sarek and they exchanged a few unpleasant words about each other and their gods when she back handed him and incapacitated him and then turned and mind blasted Damien and Kalanaghar stunning them. Kalanaghar then dropped a globe of darkness on all of them but it did not seem to affect her as she knelt down and began to rip information out of Ivanors head telepathically." 

     "By the Dark gods!"  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

 "They recovered from being stunned and suddenly Kelphos Nocturn burst into the room and he and Lo' Sarek fought with Damien and Kalanaghar backing him up. They backed her into a corner and then she sprang up stuck to the ceiling and spit a cloud of black smoke down over them causing Damien and Kelphos to become shaken and instilling fear in Kalanghar. She then dimension doored away." 

     "Wait a minute Kelphos Nocturn?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Yes, the same one that Damien and Kalanaghar met when they were captured by the goblins and the same one that sent them to Rath to deliver a letter to Elvira, a letter that he marked with his personal symbol...which is remarkably similar to the one they saw on Claudia the night the beast escaped from the warehouse." Brickface said with a quiet calm as he leaned back and stretched in his leather chair. 

 "There are a lot of unanswered coincidences here. What happened to Kamal and Kelphos?" Dr Zhindzhe said with his brow furrowed. 

 "Kamal vanished and Kelphos dimension doored out as well. Just as Elvira returned and stood in the doorway looking at the damage to her Inn as she dropped her luggage at her feet." Brickface said.  

     "Layers of Intrigue."  I can now see the draw to their particular lifestyle.  Dr Zhindzhe mused. 

     "Indeed."  Brickface said simply. 

 Brickface and Dr Zhindzhe shared a quiet moment of reflection and speculation and then Dr Zhindzhe got up and left thinking that all of this seemed to be layered in intrigue, deception and double talk.

*****************The Story Goes On***********************


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## Nightbreeze (Oct 7, 2008)

Very interesting, bring it on.


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## akira1 (Oct 8, 2008)

*Thanks*

Thanks Nightbreeze.  I am glad for your reply (and was even beginning to think that maybe my write up was not as cool as I thought it was ).  I will *ahem* bring it.


-Akira1

 "It's deceptive to say that you are what you eat. If you were, you would likely be heavily processed, refined and packaged, rich in high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated fats. Or even worse: caged for the majority of your life and fed strictly grain until you were slaughtered unceremoniously." - Eli Rosenberg


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## akira1 (Oct 13, 2008)

*Loose Ends*

The cool shadows of the Scions inner compound, even though they provided relief from the blistering heat common to the central blood lands region, did not offer any comfort to Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe as he stood in the inner court yard and waited for his summons. As he watched, the Doctor filed the information away for careful study later. He was quite aware that it would not pay to appear to be to curious at observing the Clergy of the Scion in their place of Power. The Doctor observed the priestesses, all naked from the waist up with a series of interlocking chains crisscrossing their bare chests, wide sashes around their waists, heads shaved bald, and silk dresses or voluminous pants as they moved with clockwork precision through their home and center of power. There was an eerie quiet to the place and the chill in the air all combined to instill an abiding dread in Dr Zhindzhe. 

 Almost like a shade, she drifted out of the cool shadows quietly and addressed Dr Zhindzhe, " Good evening doctor, I hope you have not had to wait overlong." Iselia said in clipped precise tones. 

     Jumping slightly at her silent approach, Dr Zhindzhe stammered, " No Holy Priestess, I have not been waiting to long."   

 Turning, Dr Zhindzhe gaped at Iselia. The priestess was tall easily 6ft and had a statuesque build. She had tanned skin and brilliant blue eyes stared out of her shaved head. Her lips was thin and blood red and there did not seem to be a spare ounce of flesh on her well toned body. She had a wide black sash around her waist and a silver silk dress cut high on her left shapely leg. She wore a pair of embroidered black silk slippers. Over all of this though there was a sense of untouchable coldness that seemed to make her exotic looks almost alien. 

 With a slightly sardonic smile the priestess chided, "Its unseemly to gape Doctor. You have come here for a purpose and lets us go now and attend to that." 

"Of course, Priestess Iselia."  Dr Zhindzhe stammered as he began to follow her into the shadows of the Scions compound. 

 Iselia led Dr Zhindzhe into a suite of well appointed rooms overlooking a parade ground where scores of the Scions Priestesses performed calisthenics under the watchful eyes of their superiors. 

 Questioningly Dr Zhindzhe asked, "Pardon my ignorance, but your religion seems well, foreign compared to the ones more common to the Blood lands region." 

 Seeing his eyes directed to the parade ground Iselia replied simply, "The Holy Scion stresses perfection of body as well as spirit." and then pointing to a severely squared off chair she stated, "Sit Doctor, my time is not unlimited this day." 

 Hastily taking his seat, Dr Zhindzhe gathered his memory crystals and notepad and dived headlong into the questions by asking, "When I received your 'summons' to come here I was a little startled no less by the reason for your summons, The Adventuring group known as the Tainted." 

 "Yes, Ivanor, Damien, and Kalanaghar are one of the purposes that you have been given an 'invitation' to speak with me." The Priestess countered. 
     "Lets be frank here Iselia, you did not ask me to come here so much as you commanded it."  Dr Zhindzhe said flatly. 

 With a simple nod of acquiescence and a cold glint in her eyes, she stated, "Of Course. Now would you like to hear my story?" 

     "Of course, I meant no disrespect."  Dr Zhindzhe quickly replied.  

 "None taken Doctor." Iselia replied, "Now this adventuring group, the Tainted as you have called them had a very busy couple of days at the end of the Month of Skullsflame." 

     "I am beginning to get that impression." Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 Nodding, the Priestess said, "Well, the first major thing that occurred was that they did go to Brickface and accepted the Mission to go hunt a Unicorn." 

"Really, I thought they were extinct in the Blood Lands Region."  The Doctor replied.   

 "Logically doctor your statement cannot be true, How would they be assigned a mission if the target of the mission did not exist." The Priestess said coldly, " In any event they accepted the mission and then the first big revelation came to them." 

     Remaining silent and motioning the priestess to continue Dr Zhindzhe waited with anticipation on the revelation.   

 "The found out the identity of Mr Sleep. According to Brickface, he was not provided with the specifics on this mission, but he did explain to them that it came from higher ups and their success in this mission would directly relate to an increase in status for themselves and Lolita's Syndicate in general. To this end he introduced them to Mr Sleep so that they could get the particulars." 

     "And Mr Sleep was....." Dr Zhindzhe nearly shrieked. 

 "The Drow Female with the mo- hawk that is always in Brickfaces office. Apparently she wanted to see them first hand and assess them for herself. She began to make it a point to show up in Brickface's office when they were they to watch them." The Priestess stated. 

 "Amazing!" Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. "So The Drow Female with the Mohawk is Mr Sleep. I would have figured that Mr Sleep would be male." 

 "Of course you would Doctor. You are not versed in the necessities of subterfuge and misdirection." The Priestess calmly replied. "Mr Sleep went on to detail the mission for the Tainted. She stated that they would travel to the port town of Orin approximately 3 days NE of Rath and there they would seek out the man named Bismark and he would transport them across the cloven straight into the Hinterlands, the ancestral home of the Barbarians." 

 "Of course" Dr Zhindzhe snapped. " If there were a Unicorn anywhere on this continent, it would be in the Hinterlands, that place is known almost as well for its biting cold as it is for the strangely magical creatures that inhabit its tundras." 

 "Well they accepted the mission and also on the morning of the 31st Day of Skullsflame, they saw the Grim Riders, who had accepted the mission for Lord Nominian riding out of the city." Iselia stated. 

     "I see."  Dr Zhindzhe said as he looked at the calm and collected priestess.  " What does that have to do with anything?"   

 "Nothing apparently. Damien did go out and ask around about it and he found out that Lord Nominian had been advertising for some time for a Mercenary company to exact some retribution for him on the town known as the Ruins of Castor. Apparently one of his caravans got attacked near this outpost on its way back from Ulmesh and the Lord Nominian took exception to the excuses that the Leaders of the Ruins of Castor gave him." The Priestess said in exacting detail. 

    "So why hire a mercenary company?"  Dr Zhindzhe queried. 

     "To raze the town to the ground."  The priestess stated calmly.   

     Dr Zhindzhe gaped at her as she said this and then in a low voice, " You cant be serious."   

     "As serious as a heart attack good Doctor."  Came her cool reply.   

 "After accepting the mission, they received their payment and bought new equipment. They then decided to seek out Kespian Black and his thugs since they had been informed that he had gone to ground and was gathering the remnants of his forces for a break out of district 9." The Priestess quickly changed topics. 

     "What do you mean by a break out?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Brickface after raiding their base of power and dealing them several considerable deadly blows thanks to the information that Amelia found in their HQ had essentially locked down all exits out of #9 and Kespian was going to have to fight his way out if he wanted to survive." The Priestess replied. 

     "I see so how did they go about finishing off Kespian?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

 " After a bit of wrangling about whether they should do this, they split up to gather information. Kalanaghar went seeking strange gatherings of people, and hooded people." The Priestess began. 

     "In this city!" Dr Zhindzhe interrupted. 

 Coldly and lethally Iselia said, "You have a rather annoying behavior of interrupting me when I am explaining things Doctor. In the future it would be good for you to learn and practice restraint when talking to a Priestess of the Scion." 

     With his eyes wide, Dr Zhindzhe backed up further in his chair and said, " As you command. " 

 "As I was saying," The priestess continued, "Damien went back to the actual old headquarters and there he ran into a bit of trouble. Kespian and his boys were still there. Apparently there was an underground cavern system that had been missed when Brickfaces people came through the first time." 

     Tapping a finger beside his nose, Dr Zhindzhe replied, "Clever."   

 "Indeed, Upon entering the house though Damien was assaulted by a Half Demon Barbarian who engaged him in combat. After trading blows, Damein stabbed the beast through the throat and finished him off. He then left to return to the Devil's Cup for their scheduled 2 hour meet up to share their information." The priestess said matter of factly. "Damien was not able to flee immediately and one of Kespians lieutenants, Saramus Fellwind came up with 4 Talons to investigate the sounds they had heard. Upon finding the dead body, Saramus dispatched the talons on a search for any likely intruders. Damien was safely hidden in a bush and when the Talons returned empty handed, Saramus smote one of them to death with divine magic and then declared that failure was not an option and that they were to go try again." 

     With a small furrow between his brow, Dr Zhindzhe asked, " Kespain had lieutentants?"

"Yes, He had two, a human male diabolist named Saramus Fellwind, who according to Amelia bore a tattoo across his head and was well connected outside of Rath itself, and a Drow Anti paladin known as Evo Shandar." The Priestess responded. 

     "Interesting so what did they do next?" Dr Zhindzhe queried.     

 "Ivanor spread around some money in hopes of locating a rumor monger. Even though his efforts did not bear fruit this time, he was given the names of 3 locals that might in the future provide information." The Priestess continued. 

     Nodding to indicate that the priestess should continue, Dr Zhindzhe continued to take down her words as she spoke them.   

 "They met up and compared notes and decided that they would go into the house and finish off Kespian and his gang." The Priestess continued.


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## akira1 (Oct 20, 2008)

"Incidentally, after accepting the mission but before they went after Kespian, Ivanor went to see his mentor, the Cusp." The Priestess said plainly. 

     "Another person I ham going to have to talk to."  Dr Zhindzhe mused.    

Completely ignoring him Iselia launched onward saying, "Ivanor informed the Cusp that he would be leaving town for approximately a month because he thought that now would be a good time to get out of things involving the Scions Clergy and he told him where he was going." The priestess said. 

"Would their leaving make things better for them with you all?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked calmly.   

With a cold smile the Priestess said, "If I were to tell you that good doctor, I would have to kill you." 

With a long suffering sigh Dr Zhindzhe said, ' Alright please continue."   

"Well the Cusp went onto the explain a few things about the Barbarians in the hinterlands, primarily that they were all solidly devoted to the worship of Batista, the raging one and that over the centuries various churches had attempted to convert them with no luck. and that they have a custom called the blood eagle. He also cautioned him about magical duels known as Tempest Fugits and to avoid them at all costs." The Priestess expounded. 
     "What is a tempest fugit and this blood eagle custom if you do not mind me asking."  Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

 "A tempest fugit is a magical duel between two clerics involving only elemental magics and the Blood Eagle has a dual symbolism. On the one had it represents strength in combat, enemy leaders that are kidnapped out of the midst of their troops are often crucified and their backs are slit open and their lungs are pulled out and spread behind them in a gross parody of angelic wings. Its other meaning is as a warning of disease or some other sort of calamity, in this way usually survivors crucify the dead in a ring around the affected area as a warning to anyone not to enter." the Priestess explained. 

     Clearing his throat Dr Zhindzhe replied blandly, " I see." 

 With no emotion what so ever the Priestess bore relentlessly on, " They then researched the Hinterlands and found out a few interesting things about its background mainly relating to the Barbarians that live there and the native flora and fauna." 

     "Good idea, researching the place ahead of time."  Dr Zhindzhe replied.   

 "It is only logical Doctor." The Priestess said matter of factly. "Once they were comfortably set that they were going to go to the Hinterlands, they then began to focus on eliminating Kespian and his gang. Kalanaghar and Ivanor hired the Mercenary Brock again and informed Brickface's office manager Eddie 2 Wands, Brickface was in a meeting, of what they had found out relating to Kespian. Damien stayed and kept an eye on the house and he saw Evo Shandar arrive with 12 Talons of Malice." 

     "Thats quite a force."  Dr Zhindzhe commented. 

 "Yes, it is all things considered. This also seemed to bother Damien and Kalanaghar as they wanted word to be given to El'Tari and the stalkers so that they could have some back up when they went in." The Priestess said, " In any event they attempted to sneak into the grounds and around back to an empty shed that Damien had located on an earlier reconnaissance mission of the grounds." 

     "They seem to be gelling into an effective unit."  Dr Zhindzhe said calmly.   

 With a flat stare, the Priestes bit off, "As you say Doctor. "Almost as soon as they entered the grounds, Kalanaghar and Ivanor made enough noise to alert 2 Talons that had been hiding in some shrubbery. Kalanaghar charged and struck one of them down while Ivanor commanded the other one to be silent. The silent one then ran towards the house but was chased down by Brock who threw an axe catching him in the back of the head. They then continued around to the back of the house and the shed." 

     "They got to the shed and then what?"  Dr Zhindzhe prompted. 

 "Damien used one of his innate magical abilities and read the thoughts of the two guards that were stationed there guarding a secret exit from the mansion. This confirmed his suspicion that they were guarding an entrance to the house and as a group they began to move to surround the two nervous guards. Again though Kalanaghar and Ivanor made noise and gave them away so they simply charged and struck the two sentries down." The Priestess stated. 

     "They gained control of the secret entrance to the house."  Dr Zhindzhe stated. 

 "Yes, they found a trap door and descended into a tunnel which terminated in a door with a figure similar to the one that was in the death box carved into it." The priestess said stoically. 

     "What exactly is that thing?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

     "How should I know Doctor."  The Priestess replied. 

 Coughing slightly to diffuse the challenge that now hung in the air between himself and the priestess the Doctor said, "And how did they bypass this door." 

 "Damien examined and and found that there was no lock or door handle but the head could be turned on the statue to open the door. He opened the door and Kalanaghar, Brock, and Ivanor charged into the room." Iselia said. 

     "That probably was not the best tactic."  Dr Zhindzhe commented.   

     "No, but all things considered it worked out for them."  The Priestess Countered. 

     "Oh really."  Dr Zhindzhe said.  

 "Yes, as they entered this room, they confronted Saramus, Evo Shandar and 6 Talons apparently packing things up so they could leave again." The Priestess said. "Evo Shandar summoned his innate magical abilities and dropped a globe of darkness on the center of the room. He and Saramus then fled to prepare for them when they come out of the darkness." 

"Tactically sound."  The Doctor replied. 

 "Yes, well Brock of course went berserk and charged running full into a Talon of Malice which he summarily slaughtered and meanwhile the other attempted to navigate through the darkness with varying degrees of success. Damien remained in the darkness to finish off the Talon Underlings. Kalanaghar using his training, and instincts, navigated himself through the darkness fairly uneventfully. Ivanor relied on his common sense to navigate his way out. Kalanaghar though reached the edge after Brock and then exited." the Priestess said. 

     "What had been going on in the meantime with Evo and Saramus?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked.   

 "Evo hid near the exit from the darkness and prepared to sneak attack anyone that came out of the darkness. Saramus summoned 4 Quasits to assist him against the tainted." The Priestess commented. 

     "I see."  Dr Zhindzhe commented. 

 "Well Brock was the first out and Evo stabbed him good followed by Kalanaghar who also got stabbed as he exited. Evo then withdrew behind Saranmus. Brock took a swing at him as he passed but missed. Brock and Kalanaghar then moved on Saramus but were stopped by the Quasits and Evo." The Priestess reported. 

     "It looks grim for the Tainted."  Dr Zhindzhe said.   

 "Yes, Well it only got worse. Evo cast another spell and drained Kalanghar strength, after he tumbled into the room avoiding the Quaasits attacks, hindering his combat abilities while he engaged 2 of the Quasits. And Brock suffered under the claws of the Quasits loosing dexterity to their innate poisons. At the end of all of this, Ivanor came out of the darkness, intent on slaying Saramus Fellwind." 

     "His history indicates a marked distaste for diabolists."  Dr Zhindzhe replied. 

     "Indeed" The Priestess replied as she locked her gaze on Dr Zhindzhe, "You have detailed reports on these people..."   

     "Yes, I do actually madam." Dr Zhindzhe replied.   

     "Where are they?"  She demanded. 

     "If I told you that,"  Dr Zhindzhe replied," I would have to kill you."  He said flatly.   

 For a minute a pregnant silence hung between them and then the Pristess brushed the Doctors comment away and said," Well Evo cast another spell on himself, expeditious retreat, and Kalanaghar and Brock continued to battle the Quasits, Each having dispatched one of them. Ivanor charged Saramus taking strikes from the Quasits as he went but ignoring them and struck Saramus a mighty blow causing him to lose concentration momentarily of the Quasits. At this point Kalanaghar somehow became disoriented and was left open to attack by the Quasits with no retaliation on his part and Saramus recovered though and blasted Ivanor with hell fire." 

     "Interesting. " Dr Zhindzhe said placidly.   

 "Well Evo fled just as Saramus was commanding him to help. Saramus for his part summoned the power of hel and struck Ivanor down with hellish might. Brock finished off his last Quasit and stepped over the prone form of Ivanor and struck Saramus down along with Kalanaghar who finished off his last Quasit as well. Damien remained in the darkness and using intelligence and common sense he slew the 6 underlings that remained lost in the darkness with him. He emerged and along with Brock and Kalanaghar they left in search of Evo Shandar." Iselia stated. 

     "What about Ivanor?"  Dr Zhindzhe said. 

     "He recovered and remained behind, dismembering the Diabolist and eating his heart."  The priestess said calmly. 

 With a shudder at the calmness of her voice Dr Zhindzhe said, " I also theorized that he had some form of intermittent explosive disorder. This mood swing though seems more typical of a rapid cycling bi polar disorder." 

 Staring at Dr Zhindzhe with flat unemotional eyes the priestess said, "In the next chamber, Kalanaghar, Brock, and Damein encountered 4 Talons and Kespian himself hiding wedged in a corner on the ceiling. Damien noticed him but no one else did and he positioned himself for a sneak attack on the unsuspecting Kespian after alerting Brock and Kalanaghar to the position of the Talons." 

 Dr Zhinzhde nodded and the priestess continued, " Damien fired his crossbow at Kespian and missed while Brock and Kalanaghar polished off two of the talons. Kespian descended by jumping at Brock and upon landing, he struck him in the throat stunning him. Kalanaghar engaged another of the talons and Damien did as well effectively gutting the talon in the process." 

     "Kespian seemed very effective."  Dr Zhindzhe noted.   

 "He was." The Priestess replied. "Kalanaghar then was flanked by the two remaining talons, one of which was engaged with Damien. Kespian then went and tripped Kalanaghar and kicked him on the way down. Damien then moved in and stabbed Kespian critically causing him considerable damage Brock also recovered and moved on Kespian but missed him. Kespian then went into a flurry, he tripped Brock and attempted to stun Damien to no effect." 

     "The tide turned of course."  Dr Zhindzhe said slowly. 

 "Yes. Kalanaghar stood and Kespain attempted to trip him with no effect. He and Damien and Brock then combined their efforts to finish off Kespian and the remaining 2 Talons." Iselia wrapped up. 

     "I see but what about Evo Shandar, did he get away scott free?"  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "No, he was captured on the first floor of the mansion by El'Tari and the stalkers. The tainted came up after looting the bodies and ran into El'Tari and company. Ivanor moved as if he were going to kill Evo but El'Tari interceded and made it clear that Ivanor would have to fight him and the Stalkers to get to Evo Shandar." The Priestess said. 

     "What!"  Dr Zhindzhe exclaimed. 

 "El'Tari explained that Brickface wanted information on who it was that had hired the talons to go after him personally and since Evo Shandar was highly placed in the talons..." The Priestess left it hanging as she looked levelly at Dr Zhindzhe. 

     "I see.  So is that all?'  Dr Zhindzhe asked. 

 "Basically yes. There was quite a bit of intimidation of Evo by Ivanor, Damien and Amelia but yes basically thats it." The Priestess concluded. 

     "I see."  Dr Zhindzhe said standing.  "Thank you for this information." 

 As he was heading for the door Iselia standing behind Dr Zhindzhe said, "Doctor, you have not been given permission to leave yet. There is someone else who would like to talk to you." 

 As the priestess said this, the doors to the room they were in opened and Opal Mardochan strode in with several Templars and said quite simply as her hard eyes bored into Dr Zhindzhe, "Take him." The guards moved with a cold precision.

**********************To Be Continued**********************


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## akira1 (Oct 27, 2008)

*Dr Zhindzhe versus Opal*

_"His mind is very strong Opal and he will not yield the information we seek without a struggle._" The High Priestess Ysilia spoke telepathically to her Superior in the Cadre, Opal Mardochan. 

Quite calmly Ysilia, stood and adjusted her silk dress, red with a floral pattern in golden thread, as she faced her superior, her deep blue eyes unblinking and slightly challenging. 

 Biting off the oath she was about to utter at this womans defiance Opal stared back at her subordinate with equal fervor. She said quite plainly not using the telepathic means of communication, "Mind probes are not the only way to acquire the information we need Ysilia. I would have thought your years of priestess training would have impressed upon you the illogical thought processes that comes with relying totally on a single ability...." 

Opal stopped and studied Ysilia a minute before she continued, " Perhaps you need to be reeducated?" 

 For a split second the calm challenging stance that Ysilia had adopted towards her direct superior shattered like so much glass and Ysilia nervously licked her lips at Opal's pronouncement. Seizing on her opponents moment of weakness, Opal pressed on relentlessly, "Do not ever dare to challenge me Ysilia. While you are a potent Priestess and telepath, I run the Cadre and am second only to the Scion himself for power in this city. I can hurt you in ways you did not even know existed." 

 Ysilia's lovely blue eyes widened at the cold calm in her superiors voice and quickly reassessed her position within the Cadre. She prudently stepped back, a sign of submission as Opal stared quite calmly at her. Clinically Opal began, "Now, what have we been able to salvage from the memories of the great Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe?" 

 Ysilia quickly began to inform Opal of what she had learned, "He has memories of meeting the adventurers known as the Tainted. He also possesses a great number of mental defenses and subterfuges. The information that I did get from him, I had to wrest from his mind and even then I am not 100% certain that what I got was not a carefully crafted lie on his part. His training reminds me of the Shezurite Sisterhoods mental training. He doesn't directly confront any assault. He subtly diverts it and then gains control of it somehow...." 

     Sensing her unspoken words at this point Opal pressed, "What else Ysilia!"

     With a resigned sigh Ysilia stated, " I think he found out more about me than I found out at all about him Opal."   

     "Then you have failed?"  Came the flat reply from Opal.   

 Shaken, Ysilia meekly bowed her head at this statement. Spots danced before her eyes as the full armed slap of Opal Mardochan set her sprawling to the cold stone floor of the observation room in the torture chambers of the Scion. Opal moved with a measured calm as she stepped over to peer down into the face of Ysilia. 
She stated matter of factly, "I am truly disappointed in you Ysilia. First you attempt to press your superiority over me and then you report to me that you have failed in the mission that gave you this so called confidence....." Opals eyes narrowed as her mind began to process this illogical behavior in a valued compatriot and then it hit her. 

 Lashing out with incredible speed Ysilia's own mental attack slammed into Opals mind like a barrage neatly shredding Opals unprepared defenses and momentarily staggering the leader of the Cadre. Grim determination and a unceasing will to live though shored up Opals flagging defenses and the second assault met stiffer resistance. 

 The second assault consisted of millions of psionic insects meant to devour Opal's mental strength and leave her incapacitated and dieing. Opal pulled deeply on her own psionic strength and the assault of the bugs was consumed in Opals own defense, the void. Briefly the torrent of psionic energy increased and the bugs seemed on the verge of filling the unfillable void of Opals defense when they suddenly stopped leaving Opal drawing deeply on her own psionic might as her psyche drifted alone in the coldness of the void. 

Momentarily confused Opal maintained her defenses and sent out probing thoughts for Ysilia. What she found shocked her to her core. Dr Adiago Yurobo Zhindzhe had easily dominated Ysilia, a High Priestess of the Scion and Opals number 2, and had also subtly been influencing their interactions provoking them towards violence against each other. Briefly she marveled at the mans subtlety and strength to have accomplished so much after several days of torture. As these thoughts drifted on the ends of her probes Opal found herself experiencing a growing sense of fascination at the Doctor. 

 Suddenly Opal shut down her void defense and retracted her mind probes as she chillingly realized that again the Doctor was gaining control of her, by turning her defense and her probes against her...Damn that man she thought. Opal instead wrapped herself in a field of pure psionic energy which would prove proof to psionic attacks. The field on the Astral plane appeared to be a suit of armor encasing Opal from head to toe. There on the Astral plane she finally came face to face with Dr Zhindzhe. he was wearing the form of his own avatar, the River. 

     "I have to hand it to you Doctor, your good."  Opal spat.   

 The doctors mental response, "Thank you Opal. Your better than your subordinate, but the information you are seeking will not be given up easily. In fact, I predict that several priestess will perish in the taking, if you even succeed then." 

 Lashing out, Opal's avatar blasted the River, Dr Zhindzhe, with a consuming blast of white hot fire. Instead of retreating, Dr Zhindzhe allowed his river avatar to dissipate into a cloud of steam which began to rust the armor that Opal had encased her psyche in. The Doctor altered his attack so that instead of directly assaulting Opal it instead whittled away at her armor.

 Panic stronger than anything Opal had felt in a long time began to grip her as she realized that the Doctor easily outstripped her own meager mental defenses. The training of the Scions schools though could not be ignored. Opal reached down deeply within herself to her other abilities. Besides be a competent Psionocist, Opal also was considered to be one of the most powerful Svirfneblin Illusionists on the continent. Using her magical abilities, Opal began to confuse and distort all attacks and feints by Dr Zhindzhe with her arcane magic and to a lesser extent her psionic abilities when applicable. Finally the assualts stopped and Dr Zhindzhe, who had been suspended in the middle of a 40 foot tube shaped room in the dark hung his head in submission. 

 Squaring her shoulders, Opal wiped the sweat that had beaded up on her forehead and walked into the silent chamber to look at the floating form of Dr Zhindzhe. The man himself was well toned and tall. He had the look of the Shezurite about him and Opal through her training noticed several peculiarities of the way he held himself that screamed out Shezurite training. 

Calmly she spoke, "You are a dangerous man Dr Zhindzhe. Normally you would be exterminated and that would be the end of it but now the information you are willing to fight so hard to hide has me intrigued and now that your psyche has been exhausted, as well as your body, you will begin to yield your secrets." 

 Gesturing ever so slightly the floating form of Dr Zhindzhe descended down the tube to stand before Opal. She looked into his bemused eyes and she knew the illusion world she had created for his mind to interact in had taken a solid hold on him. Smiling grimly, Opal walked out of the room with the doctor behind her to a table and 2 chairs in the adjoining room. 

Ysilia sat there drooling wordlessly as Opal passed by her and briefly Opal thought what a mess this was going to be to clean up. She seated herself at the table and the good doctor seated himself across from her. 

 With crisp business like gestures Opal stated, "Alright now Doctor, I want you to tell me everything you know about the adventuring group known as the Tainted." Opal subtly altered the spell she had cast on the doctor to incorporate her wishes into his mind. Opal sat back and waited. Dr Zhindzhe's eyes widened slightly and then he began to speak.


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## akira1 (Nov 3, 2008)

*To the Hinterlands*

Opal waited patiently as she adjusted her mental domination inside of Dr Zhindzhe's mind. She added a little extra twist to the pain he was receiving from her probe for all of the effort he had forced her to go through to get to this point. 

 The vaults of the Doctors mind were tremendous and Opal was more than a little shocked by the information she found stored there in his brain and in psilink memory enhancements. Slowly Opal let her presence sink into the Doctors...... 

 Opal found herself in an altogether different place. She was standing in the middle of a large circular airy rotunda. The ceiling of this building was high and fantastic scenes of fires in the sky and points of cold radiance on a field of black played eternally across the roof. The walls of this room seemed to be semi transparent and understated to the point that unless one were looking directly at them, they seemed to vanish giving the impression of being in a large open room. Opal gaped at the mastery inherent in the work and she even jumped a lightly when the precise clicking of shoes on stone began to echo across the vast hall to her ears. 
 "The Dome of Heaven in Shezur, where I grew up as a child." A strong male voice said and from the surrounding darkness Dr Zhindzhe came walking on with his elegant stately pace. The Doctor strode up to Opals side and stood taking in the sight around him. 

 The Doctor was of course immaculately dressed. He breathed a deep sigh and continued, "This is my fondest memory, for it is here that I grew up and knew the most joy of my life." 

 Almost contemptuously Opal sneered, "I have no cares for you past laments Doctor. Quit stalling and take me to the information that I am seeking. I want your notes on the Tainted." 

 As Opal said this she again adjusted the controls she was exercising over the doctor and suddenly Dr Zhindzhe had a heavy silver chain clamped around his neck and held by Opal who viciously yanked on it causing Dr Zhindzhe to stumble and sprawl on the stone floor of the dome of heaven. 

 "Get up Doctor its time to go for a walk through the vaults of your mind!" Opal spat. She then began a determined walk towards the exit to the dome with the doctor running to catch up or be dragged. 

     "Please let me lead."  The Doctor replied.  "I know where to take you to access the information you seek.  " 

 With a wave of her hand Opal destroyed the memory that the Doctor had of the Dome of Heaven and heaving on his chain yanked him up until he was inches from her face and growled, " Do not play any of your games with me Doctor. I will destroy your mind to find what I want." 

 Cowed, Dr Zhindzhe backed up from Opal and turned down a corridor that suddenly appeared behind him. As he went he said, "Come we will find what you are looking for in my office." 

 Opal Mardochan followed the Doctor down the corridor into his mind. This corridor itself was long and filled with file cabinets of varying sizes. Each cabinet had a name ascribed to it and they were alphabetized. Finally the corridor ended at a large heavy red oak door with an immaculate sign bearing Dr Zhindzhe's name on a plaque in the door. pausing to withdraw a key the Doctor opened the door and walked it heading towards a light almost airy looking desk. The doctor removed a large manila folder from the drawer and then took a seat in the leather covered chair that was behind it and began to leaf through sheets of paper completely oblivious to Opals glowering presence. 

 Standing in the middle of the thick carpet that covered the space in between the doctors desk and a large leather couch Opal shifted the focus of her probe slightly and Dr Zhindzhe flinched behind the desk and looked up with pain in his eyes. 

 "Don't waste my time doctor" Opal hissed. " I can take what I want remember the Dome..." As Opal said this as a wicked grin spread across her small pinched face. Opal knew that the doctor would never get the memory of the Dome of Heaven back that she had taken from him but he would live with the anguish of that missing memory. 

     "Here is what you are looking for I believe."  Dr Zhindzhe gasped. 
 Opal walked over to Dr Zhindzhe's desk and snatched the papers out of his hands dated Day 1 of Kefolds 5th year New Era. Now were getting somewhere Opal thought as she walked over to the couch and sank down into the leather plushness of it and began to read the report on the Tainted as composed by Dr Zhindzhe. 

Z: It has been a long time gentlemen. I see that you all seem a little more confident in yourselves than the last time we met. 

I:  Can we get on with this. There are matters that must be attended to.   

Z:  I understand so lets begin then.  What have you been up to? 

D: Well, we have finally met up and all of us are in the employment of a Turf Boss in the 9th district of Rath named Brickface. 

Z: Yes, I have spoken to him.  Quite a remarkable fellow.    

K:  They say he is extremely smart but that would not be obvious looking at him.   

Z:  So what is it you are doing for Brickface? 

I: He asked us towards the end of last month, Skullsflame, if we wanted to take a mission of high importance that would take us out of the city- state for a while. 

Z:  I see. 

D:  We decided to take it because things were getting a little hot in the city for us.  (Shoots a look at Ivanor) 

Z:  What is that look for? 

K:  *Chuckles*  Lets say some people don't know how to keep their mouths shut.

I: I don't quite understand what your talking about. If you are referring to me not taking any crap from the people in this city ...... 

D:  Not that, just the total lack of anything resembling caution when dealing with unknown factors. 

Z:  Is there some tension here? 
D:  I may be CE but i'm not stupid.   

I:  Are you saying that I am stupid! 

Z: Allow me to intervene here gentlemen. I think what Damien is saying is that a lot of undo attention has been paid to you all because of certain behaviors you possess such as smarting off to the Scions Priestesses. 

K:  That is not the smartest thing in these situations.   

Z:  In any event you all accepted the mission *rifles through some pages* at the behest of Mr Sleep, herself. 

D:  Yeah Ivanor was winking at her when Brickface announced who she was.

K:  LOL 

Z:  Ivanor? 

I:  What!  She was always there after a point looking everybody up and down I had had enough. 

Z:  I see.  So you left Rath..... 

I:  Yeah we left on the 1st day of Kefolds and traveled for 2.5 days to the NE to the port town of Orin.   

K:  On the night of our first day out, we encountered a band of dire wolves led by a Cinder Wolf.   

D:  Yeah they very nearly killed us before we were able to finish them off. 
All that tripping and provoking attacks of opportunity, and then the Cinder Wolf could breath fire. 

Z:  I have heard of such creatures. 

K: Well they attacked and Damien alerted us to their presence. The 3 dire wolves rushed right out at us and a round later the Cinder Wolf showed up. 

I: We took out the first 2 fairly easily and the third one as well. The cinder wolf fled after his pack had been slain. I was gonna chase him but decided against it. 

Z:  How do you mean? 

D: We used tactical fighting flanking and positioning to regain the advantage we lost to the Dire wolves when they charged us. 

K:  In other words we out fought them. 

Z:  I see.   

I: Well nothing happened over the next 1.5 days on our way to Orin. There was a swarm of vampire bats on the second night but they were nowhere near us. 

D: Just as an aside the terrain up there is pretty ugly. it went from broken scrub land to a lot more uneven ground and buttes and plateaus. We reached the forest on the evening of our third day.  

K: Things picked up a little bit in here. First off We all were noticing that something was wrong with this forest and only later did it occur to us that the bark on the trees was covered with millions of blood flies. 

D:  We stayed on the path and did not disturb them. 

I:  Then the raven showed up.   

Z:  A raven!? 

I: Yeah it gave us the evil eye and then cawed once and flew directly at the trees with the Blood flies causing them to swarm all over us biting and stinging. 

D:  We reached Orin shortly after that and that place was a mess. 

K:  It was like something out of Resident Evil. 

Z:  I am not quite following, what is Resident Evil? 

D: There were vultures on the walls. They had eaten so much they were to fat to fly and could barely move. I kicked one down when I climbed the wall to get a look into the town. 

I: It looked like there had been a series of battles within Orin itself and finally everyone either got killed or carried off. There were broken barricades and some of them had been set on fire. 

Z:  What did you all do next. 

D:  Well I set off to search the town for survivors. 

K:  No you didn't, you were gonna look for treasure.

D:  Loot survivors, semantics.              

I: *Clears throat* Anyway, we moved into the town proper and found the mayors house/city hall. It was still fairly intact and Kalanaghar had seen movement in one of the upper story rooms. 

K: Yeah this place was deserted. There was glass from the windows that had been broken out and claw marks in the doors that still remained on their hinges. We decided to barricade the other entrances out of the mayors home and were in the process of doing this when Ivanor went and got himself attacked again. 

I: That dead dog came out of nowhere. Well, this undead dog came after me. I had some strange modifications done to it. Its back legs had been lengthened and its fore legs shortened to increase its running speed and it had extra muscle added to its jaw area, and it was drooling this green slime. I kicked its butt. 

K:  I helped a little. 

D:  I watched. 

I:  Little being the operative word here.  

Z:  Gentlemen can we please stay focused.  What did you find in the mayors house? 

D: The mayors son. Peldrin. He had a sweet set up. He was holed up in the attic of the house with all of the liquor he could find. He rigged up several crossbows with rags that he could light on them as well as throwing alcohol bombs when we opened the stairs to go up into the attic. 

K:  If he had of had porn it would have been complete. 

Z: Had what? 

D;  he set me on fire. 

Z: ! 

D:  *flexes wings*  It didn't hurt doctor. 

Z:  I see.... 

I: *Exasperated sigh* Never mind Dr Zhindzhe. Peldrin told us that we were all going to die and that they were going to come for us. 

Z:  Who? 

K: The undead. We found Peldrins fathers town log and apparently 2 weeks before we came to this town there was a plague of some sort that killed off all of the young children and old people. The children and old people came back to life after a couple of days as udead. 

Z;  Thats hideous. 

K; Yeah, it gets worse. At first the townspeople of Orin did not know a difference and allowed their dead relative to return. Thats when it got bad. 

I:  I despise the undead.   

D:  Is that why you wouldn't use your turning ability on them? 

I:  I did use my turning ability.  

K:  So the undead began to spread like a plague in this town. 

Z;  What started this plague? 

D:  We think theres a Necromancer somewhere around there. 

Z:  Did you find out for sure and neutralize him? 

I:  No, we were otherwise occupied.   

Z:  How do you mean.   

K: Someone was trying to steal our food wile we were in the mayors house talking with Peldrin. I climbed down a rope out of the attic window and went after them. Ivanor and Damien followed. 

I: Whoever it was, they cloaked themselves in invisibility as they fled. It was a Hobgoblin named Skoldiz and a human named Sven. 

D;  We were able to still follow them because they had been looting the town and had several jingling bags of loot on them.   

Z:  Goodness. 

D; they stopped outside of a shop and when they appeared, they were ready to fight. The Hobgoblin had his war staff and a dagger that was crackling with electricity at the ready and the human,Sven, had a Spear. 

Z:  Did violence break out? 

K: No, we talked and decided to make a deal with them instead. We asked for a safe place to stay in exchange for the food that we had on the horses. 

D;  Yeah we would not be able to take it with us.   

I: The only problem is that the safe place they knew of was there own hide out. They told us general stuff like stay near the wharves the smell there throws off the undeads scent. So we went to the wharves and naturally enough there was a cannery. 

D; The hobgoblin wizard and the human were there. They agreed to let us stay and then we made another deal to fix one of the boats. 

I; In one of the undead attacks, the undead had sank all of the ships in the Orin harbor effectively blocking it. Sven turned out to be a sailor and we made a deal with him to sail us across the Cloven Straights and into the Hinterlands. 

D: That Hobgoblin was most likely going to kill Sven, he kept giving him these looks and whenever something had to be done he gave Sven a look. 

K:  Yeah Sven was not long for the world.   

I; We stayed the night there because Peldrin had told us the udnead come at night and that they already knew we were there anyway so they would come. 

Z:  Did they come? 

D:  Yeah but they just kinda wandered around aimlessly until the Spellstitched Ghouls showed up. 

Z:  Spellstitched Ghoul? 

K:  Yeah their leaders, they are like normal ghouls except they have some minor arcane power.   

I;  The Ghouls directed the Zombies on a relatively thorough search for us but they found nothing.   

D: yeah and the next day, we went out to fix the boat the Hobgoblin armed himself with several items from the loot they had gathered. 

K:  We went out and used our horses to help beach one of the sunken boats and then Sven and us went to work fixing it.   

I:  We were disrupted by a surprise return of the undead.   

K:  Well it wasn't exactly a surprise, one of those Dead Dogs came back and told us that we were going to die then it left. 

Z:  Those things can talk! 

K:  We think it was the Necromancer that created him talking through it.   

I: We gathered up our stuff and as a group we began to move towards the Cannery. Before we got there though, the streets filled with Undead and Spellstitched Ghouls. 

D:  The hobgoblin and Sven apparently had worked out there own escape plane before hand.   

Z;  What do you mean? 

K;  The Hobgoblin began casting a spell and motioned for Sven to come over to him and drink a potion.   

D:  The potion was a potion of flight and Sven flew up taking the hobgoblin with him as the flew over the undead. 

Z:  They abandoned you. 

I:  Not exactly the spell the Hobgoblin had been casting was fireball and he wiped out 1/3 of the zombies with ease. 

Z:  I guess that has to count for something.  What did the rest of you do.   

D:  I fled. 

K:  I fled. 

I:  I stayed to fight.  Undead are an abomination to my church.  Peldrin stayed with me. 

Z:  You stayed against what odds? 

I:  About 26 to 2. 

D: I tumbled through all of these ghouls that Ivanor had turned and got past 2 Spellstittched ghouls as well. The ghouls cast acid arrow at All of us but only got Ivanor and Kalanaghar. Once I was clear of them I sprinted for the Cannery. 

K:  I ran after Ivanor had turned a lot of them too.  One of the Ghouls chased me back to the cannery.   

Z:  It did. 

K: yeah but the Hobgoblin had two flaming spheres that he was controlling and he sent them after the Ghoul which went up in flames. 

Z: Alright Ivanor what happened back with you.   

I:  I fought two of the ghouls but before this began, Peldrin did something extraordinary. 

Z;  How do you mean? 

I: Well he had been talking to me about my faith whenever we had a free moment and apparently he gained faith in my deity. He used his faith to keep the Ghouls at bay. 

Z:  I have heard of the phenomenon of spontaneous faith before but you witnessed it.  What was it like.   

I:  Well it was kind of like he channeled positive energy but not so much like that.   

K:  hes going to become Ivanors cohort later on. 

Z:  A cohort? 

D: Follower. 

Z:  I see.   

I: Anyway he had to do this because when the undead came he got unhinged and began attacking. I had cast an Invisibility to Undead on us but he did not know and attacked them breaking my spell. 

K:  After that they simply walked away. 

D: After Ivanor realized that he would not be able to defeat the 2 Ghouls in hand to hand combat. 6 attacks against 1 attack is not good odds. 

Z:  I would have to agree.  In any event. 

K:  We fixed the ship and Sven was going to sail us across the straits.  Peldrin and the Hobgoblin decided to go back to Rath. 

D:  yeah Peldrin is probably dead under a bush now on the way to Rath.   

K:  yeah I don't give him very good odds. 

I:  I gave him directions to my church in Rath and directed him to seek out the Cusp.  Then we all parted ways. 

Z:  Fascinating.


----------



## akira1 (Nov 21, 2008)

*A Mystic Hajj*

D:  We got to the Hinterlands 2 days later.   

K:  This place was different.   

I:  yeah for one thing it was cold.   

Z:  I have heard that about the Hinterlands.   

D: We walked into the big primeval forest that covers most of the hinterlands and ran into tribe Angrijmier. They were not going to let us pass saying something about their ancestors had not been appeased. 

I:  they wanted us to cut our hands and fling the blood about us to appease the bad spirits.,  

Z;  How barbaric... 

D:  They are barbarians.  Anyway after the bloodletting they took us to Hamall. 

Z:  The Contact Bismark was supposed to lead you to. 

K:  The same one.  He was pleasant. 

D:  Yeah he hated non humans apparently.   

Z:  I am sure your appearance caused quite a stir Damien. 

D:  Not really, i kept myself under wraps. 

K: Hamal would not even speak to us.  he addressed everything to Ivanor. 

D:  He wouldn't even accept our half of the money we had to pay him to take us the the lands of the Ragnnaar. 

K:  he said it was cursed and threw it across the room. 

I:  he had a cleric with him and he challenged me to the Tempist fugit. 

Z:  The elemental battle of divine magic. 

I:  Yeah, I told him that my scythe was my strength and then declined.  
Hamall had wine brought to us by his drow female slave and then we were off to the lands of the Ragnnaar. Hamall ran the whole way there and we had to as well since we did not have horses.

D:  Yeah I got sick. 

K:  I had to stop as well. 

Z:  How did Hamall take this? 

I: He stopped but made it known that he did not like to stop. We then ran on for most of the next day before We came upon a fence of skeletons and then Hamall because very careful. he told us we were in Ragnnaar lands and that we were not alone. 

D:  The Ragnnaar came out of the woods and surrounded us. 

K: Where Hamaal and the Angrijmer were burly, the Ragnnaar were lean and their women seemed to occupy places as powerful as the men. There were naked female warriors mixed in with the men when they confronted us. 

I: There was some superstitious mumbo jumbo about Hamall having a "doom" and marrying some woman from the Ragnnaar clan or fighting her. 

D: The leader of these people was Falthor.  He had a really kewl bow and was a lot more fun than Hamall.   

K:  yeah he talked to us even though he had a drow female for a slave as well.   

I:  We went to their camp and as Falthor said, ate the bloat, and drank from his fathers cup to the fog moon. 

Z:  The bloat, and a fog moon? 

I: According to Gunhilda, the Norn, the bloat is food, and the fog moon is just some old ritual they no longer even know why they follow it, its now more of a toast or salutation. 

D:  We sat around and told stories of what we had done in the past with Falthor and then Gunhilda arrived.   

I:  A petite big busted blonde with blue eyes.   

D:  These people were better all around than the Angrijmer. 

K:  Yep. 

I:  Gunhilda told us that she would help us but first we would have to prove ourselves by completing a mystic hajj. 

Z:  A mystic hajj? 

D:  She told us we would have to die and then come back to life. 

Z:  I am not following this. 

K:  She didn't mean it literally. To the tribe we would be dead until we completed the quest that Gunhilda had placed on us.   

Z:  And that was...... 

K:  To kill a dragon and bring back its horns.   

Z:  A DRAGON! 

D:  Yeah.  I don't know why but all of a sudden it seems like everyone is interested in horns. 

A contemplative silence descends at this statement. 

I:  Well we completed the hajj. 

Z:  Just like that. 

D:  Uhhhh no. 

Z:  Explain please.   

K: Well we were sent to this mountain called Heimskrigla which roughly translates into "place of the wyrms". There were all sizes shapes and colors of dragons fighting in the clouds over the mountain. 

D: They had fought for so long that the ground was saturated with their blood and the area for a mile around was a flat plain of clay. It also was steadily raining blood as we walked out into this. 

I: We drew the attention of a curious type of wyrm. It could not fly but it could make incredible leaps and it did not have a breath weapon but it was incredibly vicious. 

Z:  Vicious you say. 

I:  yeah it bit me for half my hit points in its first attack. 
Z:  half your hit points...... 

(Clinicians Note: More of this adventurer lingo.  Must do an in depth review of this curious dialect) 

D:  Then it proceeded to beat the crap outta all three of us at once.  I got scared of it though and fled. 

K:  yeah it incapacitated me. 

I:  I was about to go down myself but I called on my faith and it protected me.   

K:  That pretty much saved all of us.   

I:  That and the critical cleave I got on it.   

Z:  So you were basically the hero of this encounter Ivanor? 

I:  Yeah you could say that. 

D:  We took its horns and returned and the Ragnnaar had a feast and party ready.   

K: Gunhilda gave us the direction to the valley of the Unicorns and warned us that there was an awful burning light that hung in the sky inside of the valley and that we would know we were close when the mists grew swollen and thick. 

Z:  A cryptic response.   

D:  She is a Norn. 

Z:  A norn? 

I:  Oracle. 

Z:  I see. 

 The cool stone of the Scions temple did nothing to dispel the heat and sweat that was rolling off of Opal Mardochan as she sat in the underground torture chambers with Dr Zhindzhe seated across from her. The mans will was cracking and soon she would have what she wanted but by the dark god himself the effort it was taking was tremendous. 

Standing on wobbly legs Opal looked at the comatose form of Dr Zhindzhe and in a dry whisper she said, " Next time doctor you will give me what I want and not this meaningless drivel." Turning on her soft slippered feet, Opal left the room and Dr Zhindzhe in the all consuming darkness. 

 As the stone portal to the room closed, the vacant eyed Dr Zhindzhe blinked once to get the sweat out of his own eyes. A part of his mind was working furiously to penetrate the psionic and magical wards that prevented his escape from this place and yet another part of his brain was working to dredge up as much of his memory palace as he could. Opal was voracious and her rambling inside of his head had to be contained until he could deal with her properly. With a grim determination, Dr Zhindzhe began to spin his next trap for the unsuspecting Opal Mardochan.

****************To Be Continued****************************


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## akira1 (Dec 1, 2008)

*To the Valley of the Unicorn*

The following documents were unearthed in a historical dig off the southern coast of Garsis in the area formerly known as Elzelik-Rath. They appear to be a historical accounting of a journey, or maybe a fictional story recounting the exploits of fabled heroes. They were originally composed by a bard known simply as Fendril of the Company of the Broken Horn. 

 Gunhilda sat upon a large stone on the outskirts of the Ranaga encampment and distractedly traced runes into the dirt at her feet. The nights festivities, those that had ended in any event, Gunhilda thought with a wry smile, had left most of the camp asleep and their snores created a buzzing counterpoint to the often feral yowls that were coming from other parts of the encampment. The heavy overhanging clouds that blotted out the sky, seemed to roil of their own accord this morning and Gunhilda squinted her brilliant blue eyes up at them wondering what events had been set into motion by the arrival of the outsiders and how this whole thing would play out. 

 As if her thoughts had summoned them, the adventurers, known as the Tainted walked across the frozen earth towards Gunhilda and she took this moment to reassess them as they approached her. Damien the Drow Fey'ri, even though he was one of the damned Drow, she found that his chaotic nature often suited her a lot more than Ivanor, the cleric of Cambion,the Lord of Nightmares and Death. Ivanor was a tall human male that seemed very rigid and finally came Kalanaghar another damned Drow but a decent swordsman none the less. 

     "Lady what is that you are drawing in the ground?"  Ivanor asked as the Tainted approached Gunhilda. 

 "Nothing to concern you." Came Gunhilda's reply as she stood and dragged her deerskin wrapped feet over the runes that had sprang unbidden into her mind. "Attend me while I give you direction to the Valley of the Unicorns." 
 They listened as she laid out their travel directions and a few warnings as well. 

"No one from our clan has ever been there and returned with the same description of the place, but you will know you are near it when the mists come upon you unbidden. There is rumored to be a terrible fire that blazes in the sky there and all manner of strange and evil creatures." 

     "So we are to travel to the Northeast from here."  That was Ivanor. 

 "Yes, for approximately 3 to 4 days before you will be in the region where this place is rumored to be." Gunhilda replied. 

     "May the blessings of Batista be upon you all."  Gunhilda said by way of a benediction as they began to depart.   

     "Cambion has always walked with me lady."  Replied Ivanor. 

  Silently Gunhilda mused, "I am sure but who is going to hold Cambion's hand when you go into a place where your gods do not even dare to tread?" Outwardly Gunhilda simply watched as the Tainted walked out of the hold of clan Ranaga. 

 The forest of the Hinterlands, known as the Elde Forest, stretched ancient and hoary over most of the Hinterlands, the area formerly known as the 7 Kingdoms of the Westmen. The diffuse light that normally reaches the ground in this region, was even more filtered and under the ancient canopy, total darkness reigned. The cold and the remnants of snow combined with the darkness made travel slow going for the Tainted as they moved through this forest. 

     "I hate forests!"  Ivanor began as they traveled slowly through the murk.  "Whose idea was it to come out here anyway." 

     "I think it was yours" Damien replied slyly from the shadows.  "Something to do with your church." 

 Kalanaghar retained his usually stoicism as he moved through the forest. Like Damien he had also grew up in a forest but not one nearly as ancient and untamed as this forest was. "I think I see a place that we can camp up ahead" Kalanaghar replied as they continued to move through the forest. 

The camp was struck and the Tainted set about breaking up their duties among themselves. Kalanaghar took the first watch and nothing of import occurred during his tenure. 

 During Damiens watch, a couple of bears came frolicking into the camp. They had been causing some noise earlier and Damien had prudently attempted to wake Ivanor at their approach. 

     "Ivanor replied, "You woke me for a couple of bears!"  and then promptly went back to sleep.   

 When warned Kalanaghar did wake up at least and then Ivanor once again was alerted and woke up. At this point as well the bears, smelling the food in their packs began to tear up their backpacks to get at it. 

 Ivanor became enraged and Damein and Kalanaghar moved in to end the threat of the bear. Stepping from the shadows behind one of the bears, Damien drove his knife into the creatures flank at nearly the same time Kalanaghar drove his sword into the second bears shoulder. Both bears immediately fled the camp but as they did they issued startled cries of alarm....and alerted their mother, who was foraging nearby. 

 An earthshaking roar echoed through the forest followed moments later by ground shaking foot falls. For an instant the Tainted stood still shocked by the approach of this behemoth. Then Ivanor smoothly drew his scythe and took up a position to face whatever came out of the forest. Damien melded smoothly into the shadows and Kalanaghar hid behind a tree. Time stretched out and in the distance, Ivanor could see trees swaying and waving crazily as whatever it was approached. Tensing as the beast came closer, Ivanor resolved to charge it as soon as it came out of the gloom of the forest. 

 The mother Dire Bear, did not know what hit her as with a yell nearly as fierce as her own, Ivanor charged and delivered a wicked slash across her broad hairy back with his scythe. Time seemed to lurch and snap forward twice as fast at this point. The mother bear reared to her full 15 feet dwarfing Ivanor her cruel claws glinted evilly in the murk and her large razor sized teeth sparkled. With another roar, the mother bear lurched into the assault on Ivanor. Her large shield sized paws slammed twice into Ivanor and the screech of claws on metal spread through out the forest. The drip of Ivanors own blood after the initial splatter became a rang hollowly in the forest. Again Ivanor whirling his scythe about him as he went moved in on the mother bear and ducked under another titanic sweep of her arms and was able to deliver a foot long gash across her side which sent roars of pain billowing from the mother bears mouth. 

 Suddenly like a shadow, Kalanaghar was there and his sword and knife weaved a nearly hypnotic pattern before the eyes of the mother bear as he relied on his skill and speed to help him evade his much larger and slower opponent. The mother bear bled from numerous nicks and cuts inflicted by Kalanaghar. Before she was able to land a blow on her second more agile opponent. 

 Damien for his part moved through the darkness silently maneuvering himself into position to deliver a deadly strike to an unprotected flank on the mother bear. 

 Enraged by the tenacity of the Tainted, the Mother bear frenzied. Her eyes dilated with fury and adrenaline surged through her muscles. With one punishing blow she caved in the breast plate of Ivanor and sent him flying backwards from her and with her second she sent Kalanaghar flying as if launched from a catapult. The sickening crunch of bone could be heard as he struck a tree. Dropping to his knees in pain and gasping for breath, Kalanaghar reached into him to that innate magic that all of his race were born with. Crawling forward slightly and holding his wounded side, he concentrated on the mother bear and the world through his eyes suddenly changed. He was still in the forest, but he was now seeing it through the eyes of the magical realm. Glowing tendrils of magic, brilliant reads and blues suffused himself and several items on his companions, almost lovingly and with supreme skill he pulled several streams of magic and wove them into an impenetrable dome of darkness around the enraged mother bear. 
 A howl of rage and frustration escaped the mother bears as the world around her suddenly went black. Seizing the moment of the brief respite, Ivanor called upon the favor of his deity and his wounds sealed themselves. He firmly got to his feet only swaying a little. At the same time the mother bear charged from the globe of darkness obviously confused and angered by its sudden appearance to find herself no where near the threats she had faced. 

 Damien then using his own innate magic also summoned a globe of darkness and the mother bear, confused and disoriented by this tactic charged again intent on simply escaping the darkness now. She fled into the woods on the trail of her cubs leaving the Tainted to breath a sigh of relief and tend their wounds. 

 Another day of travel found the Tainted on the great tundra of the Hinterlands. The tough looking scrub brush was the only thing that broke up the unrelenting boredom of this plain. The grayish green smudge of the forest lay behind them now and the Tainted looked disconsolately upon the plain ahead of them. A thin layer of ice and snow also covered the ground. 

     "Whats that?"  Damien announced after they had been traveling on the plain for a few hours.   

     Turning and squinting Kalanaghar stated, " It looks like a bird of some sort."   

     "Can we tell how far off it is?"  Ivanor queried. 

 "No, I cant tell if its a really big bird and is really far away or if it is a small bird that is not so far away." Kalanaghar replied. 

     "Well lets just continue on and ignore it."  Ivanor stated.   

 And with that, the Tainted continued on at a brisk walk and soon their avian companion broke off and left them alone. Darkness found them on the plain and they set up camp. Now that they were not moving, the plain seemed to come to life with all types of predators. Wolves, dire and otherwise roamed the tundra as well as dinosaurs and other dangerous creatures. 

 After completing another sleep cycle, the Tainted continued on in their journey only to realize that they were out of food. Ivanor and Kalanaghar began to succumb to their lack of food and by the third day of their travels, Ivanor was no longer able to continue at his normal pace and he sank to the ground exhausted after their third day of travel. Kalanaghar recovered somewhat and using some of his survival skills was able to acquire enough food to nurse himself and Ivanor back to health. 

Damien suspiciously did not require food and when asked he simply waved an ornately carved ring and said, " No need." then smiled. 

 The Tainted then rested an additional day to regain their strength and then continued on looking for the Valley of the Unicorns. Late on their 5th day of travel they began to notice eddying swirls of mist around their ankles which swiftly began to thicken and quite suddenly they were engulfed in an opalescent cloud of mist which blocked their vision to only a few feet from their face. 

 " We have plenty of rope lets tie ourselves together so that we do not become lost in this fog." Ivanor suggested. 

The others dutifully followed this directive and in a few moments they were tied together and moving through the fog again. The mists thickened and became even more damp as the Tainted moved through them. 

 Almost with warning, the mist wall ended and the Tainted stumbled out of the fog into a different world entirely. The sky was devoid of the usual cloudy overcast they were accustomed to and the breeze that was blowing through this place was cool and refreshing unlike the blistering hot winds that normally plagued the central blood lands region. Ivanor, recovered first as Damien and Kalanaghar both were totally blinded by the unaccustomed light. 

Ivanor noticed several things. There was an abundance of plant life and it all seemed soft and fragile. There were none of the usual thorns or obvious poisonous or lethal aspects that he would normally associate with plants on these plants. Small creatures with vividly colored wings flitted about on these plants and rose in swirling masses on the soft breezes around them. The animals seemed non aggressive, and the usual claws talons and scales and vicious demeanors were replaced with soft fur, cotton ball tails and large floppy ears. They seemed almost inquisitive but would always bound away as Ivanor approached them. The final thing that he noted was that the colors were sharper here and more vibrant. 

 "Thats going to be a problem" Damien said as he squinted up at the ball of fire that filled the blue cloud free sky and his small speck of darkness which did not seem to blot it out at all. 

******NEXT THE BATTLE WITH THE GUARDIAN OF THE VALE*********


----------



## akira1 (Dec 15, 2008)

*Battle with the Guardian of the Vale(1)*

"What do you mean its going to be a problem?"  Ivanor asked.   

     "I am having problems seeing properly in this dazzling light. " Damien replied.

     "Lets find the Unicorn and get out of here.  This place is slightly unsettling"  Kalanaghar whispered.   

     Shielding their eyes against the glare, Kalanaghar and Damien, with Ivanor in tow moved out to search the valley.   

 From their point of entrance, they commanded a view of the entire valley. It was small a little over 3 miles across but it was filled with hills and valleys and with strange plant and animal life. A large stream seemed to cut directly through the center of this place. The misty borders of the fog could clearly be seen in the distance marking the terminus of the valley and the blue dome over head was filled with the light of a burning ball of fire. 

 A thunderous sound could be heard as the Tainted moved further into the valley. The ground trembled to the rhythm of many hooves and suddenly in the dale ahead of the them, a herd of unicorns burst into view. There were well over 200 of them ranging in size from colts to full grown. They ranged the gamut of colors from white to blue to black. As one it seemed they ran through the valley and vanished around another hill leaving a cloud of dust and swirled water as the only sign that they had even been here. 

 Ivanor was the first one to feel the sense of menace. 100 yards away, standing on a plateua overlooking the Tainted the evil creature stood. It was a unicorn and unlike the others they had just seen, it had a long tufted goatee hanging from its chin. The creature looked magnificent. As it stood defiantly in the glimmering light. Its white coat seemed to sparkle with gold shimmers and it stamped a large platinum colored hoof on the ground and tossed its proud head in defiance of the intruders. It's glorious mane, was white with a mixture of golden glinting hairs that shimmered as he stood. The creatures deep chest heaved as he raised his 4 foot long horn and calmly assessed the Tainted. 

     "This is the place where your evil will die."  The Unicorn telepathically projected to the Tainted. 

     "What is this place?"  Ivanor demanded of the Unicorn. 

 "This place will be your grave." The Unicorn declared as he leveled his lance like horn, which was white with gold inlays, at Ivanor and charged. 

 "Grant me the power Celestian, to defeat the enemies of life and peace." The Unicorn intoned as he charged Ivanor. The invocation worked and as he came careening at the startled Ivanor, the Unicorns horn burst into golden energy. 

 The impact of the Unicorn slamming into Ivanor would have normally knocked a lesser opponent flat but Ivanor instead was impaled on the horn of the Champion of the Valley. The unholy power of the Unicorns deity smote Ivanor in a concussive boom as the Unicorn struck him and with a mighty toss of his head, the Unicorn paladin freed his horn from Ivanors body. 

 Seizing the opportunity, Kalanaghar and Damien moved to out flank the Unicorn. Damien moved in with his dagger low squinting in the harsh light of this place and attempted to gut the proud stallion to no avail. Kalanaghar then moved in and delivered a series of swift cuts to the creatures flanks. Ivanor for his part delivered a massive blow to the unicorns shoulder. 

 The Unicorn at this point went wild and relying on its animalistic instincts lashed out with its hooves and bucked. It slammed its horn into Ivanor again nearly ruining his armor and delivered a couple of swift hoof strikes to Damien as well as shifting himself out of their encircling strategy. Again the Tainted came in at the Unicorn causing him considerable pain and the Unicorn then summoning its innate magical abilities teleported leaving the Tainted breathing heavily and slightly confused. 

     With a grim look on his blood splattered face Ivanor growled, " Where did he go!"   

 He got his answer a few seconds later as the unicorn came galloping in from behind and slammed his horn into Ivanors back. Kalanaghar jumped to the attack and delivered a severe cut to the Unicorns flanks. The Beast shook Ivanor free of its horn and then trampled him into the dust. Damein and Kalanaghar for their parts moved about attempting to outmaneuver the Unicorn to little avail. His flashing golden hooves kept Damien at bay and Kalanaghar was not fast enough to out flank the unicorn before he moved. 

Rearing and turning, the Unicorn charged Ivanor again and slammed his horn into his side. Anticipating this the Tainted acted as one. Ivanor and Kalanaghar both delivered devastating attacks to the unicorn while it attempted to disengage its horn from Ivanors side. The Unicorn again trampled Ivanor and distanced himself from the Tainted and summoning his innate magical powers healed himself. 

 Standing 50 feet apart, the Tainted, and the Unicorn eyed each other warily and suddenly the Unicorn came hurtling back in on them. Damien had craftily positioned himself to be able to deliver a sneak attack and Ivanor and Kalanaghar simply waited. The horn struck Ivanor again and this time the Tainted pounced. The Unicorn, Paladin of Celestian and Defender of the Valley of the Unicorns, fell under the combined assault of the Tainted. 
 For an instant, silence hung heavily in the Valley and it seemed almost as if nature itself had paused to pay homage to its fallen defender. A slightly chill and discomforting breeze stirred through the valley. 

 Looking around slightly, turned and walked a little ways off into the valley to contemplate these events and the words the Unicorn used to describe he and his companions, evil. 

 Meanwhile, Kalanaghar and Damein set about retrieving the horn, their primary mission and then harvesting as much of the unicorn as possible from blood to internal organs. Kalanaghar attempted to skin the beast for its magnificent coat but was unable to remove the skin intact. After a few hours of this Ivanor returned to bury the body. 

Drawing upon their knowledges of arcane matters and alchemy, the Tainted concluded that a unicorns horn was an agent against poisoning, had properties against undead and could be used in the creation of superior healing potions. 

 As he did this, Ivanor said a prayer to his deity and was granted a vision pertaining to the soul of the Unicorn. This past in an instant and by the time the Unicorn was buried, the wall of fog surrounding the valley had nearly completely dissipated and the sky had acquired a thin over hanging of the cloud cover typical of the rest of the Blood lands Region. 

 Over the next 9 days the Tainted journey back through the lands of the Ranaga and Angrymyre and found the irrepressible Sven waiting with the boat they had acquired at Orin. They sailed back into Rath and Sven promptly bribed the dock master and then sold the skiff. 

 The Tainted for their part, gave Sven some money after he had begged to stay on with them and then made haste to Brickface's office to deliver the Horn. They then sifted through the general street gossip and found that a couple of things were at the forefront of everyones minds. The Grim Riders had successfully returned from their razing of the Ruins of Castor and the Cold Rider, the Lich Kings Lieutenant was coming to pay a social call on the Scion at the beginning of the month of Kefolds. 

 Brickfaces office is a 2 story building of black stone and wood with no visible windows to it and a single entrance. Knocking on the door, caused a single large eye to appear and the high pitched tinny voice of Eddy 2 Wands came through, "Hey guys, come on up, the doors open." 

 Walking up the narrow landingless stairs, the Tainted approached another door that was opened at their arrival and found themselves in Eddy's office. Eddy's office was plain and functional. There was a desk for Eddy and depending on the day from 3 to 7 chairs for guests to sit and wait upon the pleasure of Brickface. Eddy himself was a human male with glowing sometimes green sometimes blue eyes and a square angular face that seemed more carved than anything else. He also had a solid build and wore a bandoleer of wands across his chest. He also always seemed to smile with his large white teeth. 

     "You guys are back a few days early."  Eddy commented. 

     "Yeah.  We thought it best to get this back in the alloted time."  kalanaghar replied.   

     Eddy simply nodded and then said, Brickface will see you guys.   

 The door to Brickfaces office was large and painted red and stood cracked open. The inside of Brickface's office was a little more ornate than Eddy's but only moderately so. there were no wall hangings here and Brickfaces desk was a little larger and more ornate. There were three chairs in here which Brickface gestured were for the Tainted. 

Sitting to Brickface's right was Amelia. His diviner and second in command and if street rumor were to be believed, his lover. She was a big rawboned human female with red hair and brilliant green eyes. She had a severe look to her and distrusted everyone except Brickface. She glared at the tainted as the filed in which drew a wink from Ivanor. 

     "So you have had a fruitful mission."  Brickface intoned.  

     The tainted said nothing.  They simply deposited the Unicorns horn on the desk in front of Brickface.  

 "Go get Mr Sleep." Brickface said to Amelia who immediately stood and withdrawing her wand of Dimension door vanished to retuirn a few minutes later with Mr Sleep in tow. 

 Mr. Sleep is a Drow female that customarily wears tight fitting leather armor and has a mohawk of white hair on her round head. Sleep took the horn and then said, " I do not know if you may know or not, but The Cold Rider will be arriving in the city in 9 days. Because of the success of your mission, we will have a front row seat by the investors for this expedition to get the horn. You all are invited to participate." With that Sleep turned and Amelia teleported them both away again. 

 The meeting with Brickface ended and the Tainted collected their their payment and spent time getting readjusted to the city of Rath and shopping. Sven also spent this time recruiting some muscle for the Tainted and suggested that they should get an official base of operations so to speak. 

 The first day of Kefolds came quite suddenly as the Tainted were enjoying a breakfast at the Devil's Cup. Mr Sleep walked in in her customary black leather flanked by a hulking Ogre Half Red Dragon that she Identified as Mr Fixit, Lolita's, the Crime Lord that ultimately employed them all, personal bodyguard and assassin. 

As Mr Sleep led them to their appointed spot, they met several other Mr's. The met Mr Book, and Mr Dark as well as their retinues. The jostling crowds that lined the parade road that led to the Scions Compound in the center of the city was lined with people but the jostling crowd parted easily for them as they approached their spot and a file of the Scions priestesses formed up around them keeping the crowd from pressing in by sheer intimidation. 

 A loud trumpet sound announced the arrival of the Cold Rider and his retinue. At the head of the group came 5 men. They were exceedingly tall and thin and all had chalk white skin and black eyes, lips and fingernails. They were dressed in long flowing robes with high black belts and red half cloaks. They had pointed felt hats on their heads and they seemed to move with an almost alien intent. 

 "Sarn Mystics" Mr Sleep whispered as the 5 passed directly in front of where they were standing.

 Behind the Sarn Mystics came 20 females. They were all browned skinned, some were bald and others had their hair done up in elaborate braids. They all wore an abundance of jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, and had exotic looking nose and eyebrow piercings. The moved with a practiced grace almost like a hunting lioness. They were dressed in loose fitting multicolored robes. They had high cheekbones and broad noses. They exuded a sense of fierce sensuality and controlled lethality. 

     "The Wives if the Cold Rider, all are of the Shezurite Sisterhood."  Mr Sleep filled in.   

 And finally the Cold Rider himself came riding in. He sat regally upon the back of a Nightmare which stamped its large sooty hooves and bursts or brimstone puffed up. The Nightmare was bigger and more fierce looking than normal members of his species. His eyes seemed to bear an intelligent malevolence that seemed directed at anyone that met its eyes. Sitting in the high pommeled saddle, the Cold Rider rode with his eyes locked on the rising temple complex of the Scions with a look of acute disapproval. He was dressed in black full plate with a pheonix, picked out in red gems on his chest. A long grey cloak flowed down his back and his black hair curled thickly with white wings at his temples. His face bore a cold aristocratic mien and his dark brown eyes dismissed most of the people in the crowd as he rode majestically in. 

 It was only a minor nearly imperceptible shift, but suddenly the Shezurite all seemed to be looking in all directions at once and the Sarn Mystics seemed on the verge of massive amounts of carnage. A single bone white shaft arced from somewhere above and behind the crowd and plunged towards the Cold Rider everything seemed to move in slow motion. 

 There was a scream from one of the Shezurite and with an annoyed look, the Cold Rider shifted his attention from its studied ignorance of the crowd to looking for what disturbed his entrance into the city. The arrow slammed into a field of brilliant red energy and for a split second it hung unmoving in the air and suddenly the red energy field exploded like broken glass and it as replaced by and orange, then yellow, then green, then blue, then indigo, and finally a violet energy field, all of which shattered as easily as the red field had. A look of shock crossed the Cold Riders face as the arrow cut through his defensive magics, and punctured his necrosteel armor to sink over half its length in his dead heart. The Vampire known as the Cold Rider lurched and then toppled over backwards from his nightmare mount dead...with an arrow made from bone and bearing hints of gold standing from his chest. 

 Motion came suddenly and chaos erupted. the Scions priestesses as one seemed to draw their maces and began beating the crowd back and quickly surrounding and hustling the Cold Riders retinue into the Scions Compound. Mr Sleep and company including the tainted were escorted to safety by their group but before they left it was noted by Damien that a figure wearing a red and black cloak was fleeing the scene on top of one of the buildings. 

________________________________________________________________
(1)  This is the actual  beginning of the main campaign story arc.  The previous adventures served to set the story up to this point as well as allow the characters to pursue their own interests  and form their own connections with the NPC's within the campaign world.   They were perhaps 7th level when they battled the Unicorn Paladin of Celestian in the Vale.  

*****************Next An Interlude*************************


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## akira1 (Jan 6, 2009)

*Interlude 1:  The Lady Ravensbrow(1)*

The light of faerie fire illumination and torches reflected up from the city below contrasted sharply on the alabaster features of Claudia Ravensbrow(2) as she stood in the tall slender tower that she was currently using as her base of operations in the City- State of Rath.  Her fine red silk dress clung alluringly to her as she stood calmly looking out at the city sprawling beneath her.  A fine blood crystal decanter stood on a low table near the door and three tall backed chairs with clawed feet and heavily padded cushions stood in a circle in the center of the chamber.  
            Normally Claudia had the patience of a stone but tonight she was having difficulty keeping her emotions under control.  She still could not believe that the Cold Rider, a Vampire and one of the Lich Kings top Lieutenants, had been assassinated and if the buzz her informants was getting was correct, someone had used an arrow made from an enchanted unicorn horn to accomplish this.  

          Her jet-black hair fell in luxurious black waves down to her waist and in her palm she clutched a very sweaty scrap of a note.  Looking at the piece of parchment for the hundredth time, Claudia could not help but shudder as a cold spike of fear stabbed into her spine.   The note handed to her in one of the local temples by a Fell Matriarch herself and former member of the Cold Riders retinue, one Ebe Nadachingo, had stated that the Scion had had most of the Cold Rider’s retinue killed and was slowly torturing the survivors attempting to gain information on the motives of the Lich King.  A crease between her eyes was the only hint at her emotional turmoil as she moved away from the window lost in deep thought.  

       A magical alarm on the door rang out in Claudia’s mind and caused Claudia to stop and stare at it apprehensively.  The Scions noose was closing tighter and soon she knew she and her compatriots would have to flee for their own lives.  Collecting herself she squared her shoulders and cleared her thoughts.  She knew that if anyone was going to enter that door they would have to know the correct magical phrases and speak them in the proper sequence or the spell traps she had woven into the door would stop anything short of a dragon.  For a sickening second, Claudia wondered if maybe the lateness of her companions was due to the efforts of the Scions Priestess Opal Mardochan and her Cadre.  Claudia quickly ran through her inventory of memorized defensive spells and then she unstrapped her wand holster and let the cool metal of a Kazum Kesh Death Rod slide down into her left hand.  
            Claudia waited for what seemed an eternity before the door opened and swung soundlessly in on its well-oiled hinges.  Striding into the room, two men one tall muscular and dressed in the leather and metal armor of the Grim Riders(3), his large metal wolf’s head pendant gleamed sharply in the light and his large grayish red beard stood out all over his face.  His cold gray eyes seemed to dismiss everything in the room except Claudia and when she looked into them she saw a fury and fear there that she had not seen weeks ago.  The other male a tall slim man dressed in flowing green robes trimmed with gold thread and a wide leather belt around his waist along with soft looking silk slippers shut the door after his familiar a black cat named Batiste sauntered in haughtily on their tales.  Batiste stopped and scanned the room looking for hidden dangers or traps.  Satisfied that they were safe for the moment the cat jumped up into one of the chairs and nonchalantly began to groom himself.  

            ”What took you so long Raesene? I was beginning to wonder if you were coming back at all.”  Claudia stated as Raesene himself unpinned his veil and poured himself a drink from the blood crystal decanter.  

            Swirling the black liquid around in the glass, a wry smile spread across Raesene’s dark features as he inhaled the scent of the Drow wine known as Quroulie he closed his vibrant green eyes and exhaled deeply.  “ I got distracted Claudia, you know I cannot resist a damsel in distress.”  

            Claudia stiffened at his nonchalance and disregard for his companion in this endeavor.  Taking one step forward she raised her hand with the Death Rod in it and pointed it at Raesene.  Raesene stopped swirling his cup and suddenly his familiar seemed ready to pounce.  “You will not endanger our work here again by going off on one of your escapades.  You were simply to go get the good priest here and return.  If this happens again you will not have to worry about Opal and the Scion catching you.”  

            Claudia’s threat hung like a miasma between the two of them until the Barbarian cleared his throat.  The tension in the room visibly relaxed and the familiar went back to grooming himself as Claudia placed the Death Rod back into its holster.  Pouring another glass, Raesene handed it to the Barbarian and then picked his cat up and sat placing the animal back on his lap.  Everyone took their seat then.

            Raesene visibly relaxed now after the tense moments of a minute ago explained, “ I was not on an escapade as you say Claudia.  I saw the Black Demon(4) and engaged him.”  

            Claudia looked flatly at Raesene and said, “Continue”.  

            Raesene said, “The Beast was fighting a drow warrior in an alley where he had slain 2 more Grim Riders.”  As he said this, Raesene tipped his glass towards the Barbarian and then he went on, “ It was the Drow known as Kalanaghar and I think you are familiar with him Claudia?”

            Claudia waited a minute as that name rolled around in her memory.  She said, “ Yes, I know of him.  He is one of those adventurers I had a run in with a few months back.” Claudia tapped the side of her chair with a staccato rhythm.

            Into this rhythmic silence the Barbarian began in his deep baritone voice, “ I did not come here, risking my life to watch you two fight and then contemplate old friends.”  
          Turning in his chair so that he was facing Claudia who leaned forward and steepled her fingers the Barbarian said, “You said your employer would  protect us from retaliation and so far none of that protection has materialized.  Grim Riders are dieing on a nightly basis now and Grakus is wondering if we do not need to take the information we have and seek our security somewhere else.”  

            Claudia eyed the barbarian, Valinar, coldly over her steepeled fingers.  As things went Claudia knew that she and Raesene along with Batiste could take the Barbarian Cleric but it would be a tough fight with no guarantee that she and Raesene would both survive.  Valinar was known as Valinar the Smiter and he was one of the founding members of the Grim Riders.  Eyeing him all Claudia could see was calm self-assurance and fury.  All of these thoughts flashed through her mind and out of the corner of her eye she could see that Raesene was prepared to attack as well as Batiste. 

          Leaning back in her tall backed chair Claudia said, “ Perhaps you could go sale your information to Opal and gain a measure of revenge against the Scarlet Circle, but do you really want to be on the bad side of my Employer?”

            The barbarian heard the capital that Claudia had put into the word Employer and his face blanched slightly and she could see his resolve weaken a bit.  

          She said, “ Would you rather be hunted by the Circle and all of my Employers resources or a lone demon with a Demon Touched Kel’Soval (5)controlling it?”  
          Sensing her advantage Claudia pressed, “Leave the Demon to us and remember you and your friends will be reimbursed for all losses.”  

          The Barbarian seemed to have been mollified by this but he ventured, “ When are you going to do something about the demon? I need something to take back to Grakus.”  

            Suddenly from outside a column of fire and a low rumbling explosion shook the room.  Dust from the ancient stones filtered down and settled over everyone inside the tower.  Standing Claudia and the others went to the window and looked out on the city.  In the distance they saw a building burning with a bright orange fire.  Distantly the cries of the wounded could be heard as well as the clash of arms.  Moving and pouring herself a glass of the Drow wine Claudia watched as both men stared out at the street battle.  

          Rejoining her companions at the window Claudia said, “The first pieces in this game have begun to move Valinar and soon we will check mate this Black demon, his Kel Soval master, and their Shoon allies.”  

            Grimly Valinar turned to Claudia and stared harshly at her.  He stated, “ Lets hope your little turf war does not get out of hand.  Grakus is leery of lending you anymore help as it is until some of this protection you have thrown about materializes.” 

            The orange light of the fire made Claudia look ghastly as she sipped from her blood crystal glass.  With a small smile playing across her lips Claudia stroked the large Barbarians arm and said, “ All in due time Valinar, all in due time.”  

           Turning from the Barbarian, Claudia stood in front of the window and watched the opening maneuvers of the pawns that had been set in motion. 
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(1):  This story is a combination of my notes on the movement of certain NPC's combined with some of the movements of the Players.  Some of the events (The fight between Kalanaghar and the Black demon and why its killing Grim Riders) are not chronicled here yet but will be in future posts.
(2):  In the first set of adventures, Claudia attempted to hire the players characters to steal something from a warehouse. 
(3):  The Grim Riders:  The Grim Riders are a mercenary company composed of 500 Berserkers, and 100 Clerics of Batista the Raging One, that operates out of Rath and the lands of the 7 tribes (the same place the PC"s went to get the unicorn horn).  They were hired early in the game session and the events of their exploits will be coming up soon.
(4):  This is the same creature that was in the death box earlier in the story.  They grow and become more powerful as the eat people which also makes them less docile and more aggressive and unstable.  
(5) Kel' Soval- A member of the Shoon Hierarchy, their task is to control the Black Demons who have grown above a certain size.

****************Next:  Interlude 2:  The Lich King Awakens*************


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