Terrace and the rise of Evil

[akira1]

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]

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****************

 

[akira1]

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************************

 

[akira1]

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

 

[akira1]

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**********************

 

[akira1]

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***********************

 

[akira1]

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*******************

 

[akira1]

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************************

 

[akira1]

"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**********************

 

[akira1]

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***********************