For Rel, and his Cold
Twenty Two: Give us your poor, your downtrodden, your huddled masses,
( . . . and we’ll sacrifice them all to Iuz.)
Armed with the best intelligence magical compulsion can provide, our heroes map out a plan of assault. First on the “Least Favored Villains” list is Anna, the Alu-Fiend. Her scrying ability allows the Temple forces to make telling counterattacks. The head priests of the other evil faiths will certainly need to be dealt with, and there is some talk of just attempting to assassinate Zinvellon directly. To prevent a successful Iuzian ritual, the overall hierarchy must be dealt with in such a way that the top posts remain empty until the time of the sacrifice. In the end, it is determined that Anna, the Nabassu, Helthrax and Zinvellon must die, in that order.
Jespo introduces the party to the two new members he brought from Verbobonc: the Lady Anne’s personal advisor, known as the Diviner of Mittrik, and Aric, her bodyguard. Jespo hastily assures the group that he has used no sorcery on them, despite Fräs’ insistence that magical compulsion is the only rational explanation that could account for anyone willingly travelling with Jespo. Heated words and hisses are exchanged, and in the end, the two have to be restrained and separated.
A quick scouting foray to the Temple determines that Zinvellon has kept his subordinates very busy surrounding the temple grounds with walls, both magical and mundane. The party also takes note of some half-score of the elite orcs on patrol during daylight hours, commanded by tough looking half-orcs. So much for the front door.
They discover that there have indeed been cave-ins blocking the secret passage to the third level. Jespo comes to the rescue with his sole surviving magic item: a ring of elemental command. A stone tell spell reveals that the cave-ins are not that deep - - a passwall spell should do the trick. After creating an entrance into the third level, the PCs find that the secret area has been further sealed by the Iuzian priests. Jespo’s remaining passwall could bypass the sealed area, but when the PCs consult their map, they realize that they would have to fight their way through the armanites, Helthrax and the Grazz’t worshippers before gaining access to Anna’s lair - - a daunting prospect.
The party hits on a daring scheme. Faced with the possibility of having to fight several battles to reach Anne, the decision is made to use the remaining passwall to burrow south, and hope that the spell will provide a shortcut to her lair. At stake is a day’s effort, with the clock ticking down - - for if the spell fails to achieve success, the PCs will not be able to enter the Temple’s dungeons.
The spell is successful, but in such a way as the PCs could never have imagined. The passwall opens a conduit to a strange, lozenge-shaped chamber. In the center of the chamber is a coffin on a stone riser, with a mysterious scroll lying next to the podium. The coffin’s massive steel lid lies on the floor nearby. Inside the coffin is a still human form, dressed entirely in black, pierced through the heart by a wooden stake. The figure is pale, as if bloodless.
The scroll contains two bull’s strength spells, and a short inscription, entreating any readers to use their “new found strength” to seal the coffin, trapping the evil within.
A search of the room reveals nothing, but C’min is not convinced. She points out that there must be a hidden door, else this chamber would have no opening at all. A careful, time consuming search ensues, and a secret portal is located. Even the elf women C’min and Ren Qi are impressed by the clever construction, and declare it a masterwork.
Examining the body reveals no further clues. Eventually (and despite his track record), Jespo convinces the group that they must remove the stake. When the party attempts to do so, the illusory nature of the stake is revealed. They remove the body from the coffin, and the illusion of a vampire is dispelled. In its place lies a man, dressed in clothes of regal tailoring, if a few decades out of current fashion.
Removing him from the coffin seems to break the spell keeping him still, and the man hazily thanks his rescuers. He names himself as none other than Prince Thrommel!
Thrommel’s name is associated with a dark chapter in Furyondian history. This young man who has languished so many years in temporal stasis is the son of the King of Furyondy himself, King Belvor I. Thrommel was the heir to the Furyondian throne, but he disappeared years ago, a fortnight before his wedding to a Lady of Veluna was to seal a political marriage between the two good-aligned states.
A brief questioning of the groggy prince reveals the following: He was kidnapped by Iuzian priests in their successful attempt to disrupt the alliance between the two powerful kingdoms. They placed him in their most secret room in the Temple of Elemental Evil, shortly before the Temple was first sacked. Apparently, the secret of where Thrommel was kept died with his captors in that first historic battle.
Heydricus is the first to bend knee to Thrommel, pledging his life for the prince. Aric, lady Anne’s former bodyguard also is quick to swear an oath that he will protect the young Prince with his life (much to Jespo’s chagrin, as the wily conjurer had convinced Aric to guard him!).
There is a brief discussion about the abandoning their mission in the Temple in order to return Thrommel to the court of Furyondy, but the Prince will have none of it. After hearing the Awful Truth, he concedes that stopping Zinvellon’s cruel plan takes precedence even over the safety of His Royal Person, and he commands the party to continue on.
Jespo has shifted gears, and speaks privately with the rest of the group about how a close alliance with the Heir to the Furyondian throne could dramatically improve their prospects. Faced with their grim task, the party is repulsed by Jespo’s timing, but agrees in principle that it is in the best interests of all if Thrommel comes to no harm.
Heydricus and C’min note the gleam in Thrommel’s eye when Ren Qi recounts her recent battles, and the fervor with which the young Prince praises the party’s noble dead. Although the group manages to extract a promise from Thrommel that he will remain out of any fighting, privately, Heydricus and C’min agree that an archon has a greater chance in the ninth layer of Hell.
The group exits via the masterwork secret door, and soon discovers that, according to Crynnek’s descriptions, they are very near the lair of Anna, the Alu-Fiend sorceress.
