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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PHDungeon" data-source="post: 5154843" data-attributes="member: 86320">Session 16: AmbushI am a little concerned about how recent events will affect my standing with the party.  It has been a long time since I have met another of my kind and I must admit that most such encounters are unpleasant.  Our ability to assume the form of any humanoid and mimic them turns many of us to evil.  It is too easy to achieve wealth and standing by assuming the form of someone that has what we need.  When we are inevitably discovered it is usually a simple matter to acquire a new identity and slip away.  It is an unfortunate reality that most of the members of my race are evil.  Those that know we exist harbor a natural prejudice towards us, hence why we keep our true natures secret.My day started with a summons from the Lady Androsax upon discovering Asmodean cultists among her staff.  She found this out when one of them, Gwen, confessed and told her that she had been forced into the cult during her time as a servant to Lord Kamroth, she insisted that she had never really followed them.  The maid saw within us a chance at escape her situation by removing the cultists that remained in Fallcrest.  Not a single one of us bought the story (Derren wasn’t there having returned to Grimsburg).The maid suggested that we follow her and the other servant Cheri, who according to Gwen, was a true follower of the cult to the next meeting so that we might ambush them.  None of us trusted her, and we also felt that her plan was a foolhardy one, we quickly came up with one of our own.I sat with Gwen and learned all I needed to know to assume her identity.  In the meantime, since we knew the basic location from Gwen (which was some of the caves in the escarpment between high and low town), Bjorn, Torfinn and Deryl made their way to the caves early.  We kept Gwen separated from Cheri and under guard.  The girl whined, but she was ignored.  Cheri remained in her room all day, saying she was sick.  We found this curious, but were too busy with our own plans to investigate.  Besides this voluntary solitary confinement worked to our advantage.After dark, when the time came to leave, I went to Cheri’s room in the guise of Gwen and found a “miraculously” healed and well Cheri.  She took the lead and we stealthily made our way to the caves.  I almost slipped when Cheri revealed herself to be a changeling almost with her first breath. As soon as we had left the manor she told me that she had taken care of Cheri and left her corpse in the room. She then asked me if the heroes had bought my story.It turns out that the real Cheri was not one of the cult, and this doppelganger had assumed her identity.  It appeared that Gwen was the true cultist; which came as no surprise.  Their plan was simple.  Lead us to the caves where an ambush would be waiting, and then use their superior numbers and the element of surprise to overpower us.At first I was not sure how this new information would affect our plan, so I played my role.  Upon entering the caves I could hear the sounds of battle. A trio of Halflings, who were presumably members of the cult had stumbled across the place where Torfinn, Bjorn and Deryl had be hiding. Bjorn had led an attack and the fight had just begun. I quietly removed my weapon from my bag of holding and shot at the rather surprised doppelganger.  Unfortunately, she turned on me and after the attack and disappeared from my sight.I stepped back and allowed the shadows to envelop and protect me.  The sounds of battle had alerted the more of the cultists to our presence. These ones had been setting up some kind of net trap for us deeper in the caves, and instead of sticking with their plan, they came running to investigate.  They were surprised to see that we had discovered their treachery, and I was able to pick and choose between several easy targets and remove them one by one.  The fighting was short but fierce. Bjorn had to assume the role of the front line defender, and he took several nasty blows. Fortunately, though the cultists were many in number, they were not well trained or equipped. It wasn’t long before all the cultists were dead, including the imp that had been a concern of Deryl’s.  We did not risk searching the remainder of their lair.Upon returning we reported our findings to Lord Markalhay, needless to say he was grateful and took our recommendation of making an example of Gwen to the remaining cultists.  Her execution was a spectacle, a simultaneous stoning and burning, suggested by Torfinn.  It was a decidedly evil suggestion…I will have to watch him more closely.</blockquote>

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