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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 438408" data-attributes="member: 41">Sorry, I haven't been able to get on the boards recently . . . ------------------------Nineteen:  A kind word is the common coin of peace, the sword is abhorred by all men of character.(or, If you beat me up, my big brother’s gonna kill you.)A search through the cleric’s belongings reveals a vile book (not to be confused with a book of Infinite Vileness, or the Book of Vile Darkness).  This malign tome details rituals of gruesome and decadent Evil.  Augustin instinctively moves to destroy it, but Heydricus holds him back.  A closer examination of the book reveals the details of a ritual called the Sundering.  It seems this ritual is designed to break the powerful wards the forces of Good placed on the Temple of Elemental Evil generations ago.  In fact, notes written in the Abyssal tongue indicate that the ritual is scheduled for tomorrow, fifteen days before the Great Ritual of Ineffable Evil (not to be confused with the Tome of Ineffable Evil).Heydricus is the first to grasp the implications of such an event.  All the Temple priests gathering together in one place . . . Augustin wants to disrupt the ritual, and prevent the Sundering.  Heydricus has a more subtle plan.  If the priests will all be on the surface level conducting this ritual, who will be guarding the captive children?After a brief debate, the party warms up to this idea, and settles in to their hideout on the 3rd level to wait for the ritual to begin.  They rest, and regain spells, and are killing time telling knock spell jokes  (“I cast knock”  “What’s in the chest?”  “Otyugh”  “Otyugh who?” “Otyu guys going to do with those magic items?”), when a strange disturbance startles the party.  A circular portal of glowing blue light appears at one end of the 10 x 30 room, and from just this side of it comes a lightning bolt.  C’min and Ren Qi jump clear, but the rest of the party is hit hard.  A pair of tough-looking wolverines appear next, and the party moves to engage the summoned beasts.  Meanwhile, an invisible rogue creeps into the party’s midst and sneak attacks Augustin and Heydricus.  Fortunately, he misses on both attempts, and as he appears, surrounded by armed PCs, the wretch mutters “f--k this”, and moves to flee.  Pris is ready for him, however, and casts charm person.  Bedazzled by her beauty and grace, the rogue ceases hostilities.  Meanwhile, Ren Qi has been trying (in vain) to pound on a spellcaster that he can hear, but not see.  The improved invisible mage knows when her goose is cooked, and teleports to safety before she has to face the Fists of Fury.“Well, well, well, Mr. Murder-Pants, aren’t you special.  Who’s your co-pilot --could it be . . . IUZ!”The charmed rogue turns out to be a vile assassin, and crowingly admits to being hired by none other than Zinvellon himself to kill the party.  The rogue tells the PCs that Zinvellon really “has a cobb up his ass for you guys”, and had attached this assassin to an Alu-Fiend sorceress by the name of Anna, with the explicit instructions to find and terminate the PCs with extreme prejudice.  Anna spoke with dead on the (twice-slain) corpse of Romag to get a description of C’min and Augustin, then scryed the duo to determine that the party was camping in the dungeon.  She then used repeated detect secret door spells to ferret out the Temple Dungeon’s secret places, until she found the party.  With the assassin’s aid, and summoned help, she’d hoped to count coup on the heroes and advance her station in the Temple’s ranks.  Sorry to disappoint ya, lady.The party open their maps to the assassin and he helpfully points out that one of the secret areas the party has discovered is unknown to Anna.  New base camp, anyone?  The party quickly (and stealthily) relocates to the new hidden area, and licks their wounds until the ritual.Heydricus and Prisantha want to use the talents, evil though they may be, of Pris’ new buddy to help rescue the kids.  Pris promises the scoundrel 50,000 gp to aid the party.  He agrees, and pats her posterior with a lecherous leer and a “anything for you, baby”.  Augustin wants to kill him on the spot.  The assassin is not intimidated, and begins to brag about his accomplishments during the Greyhawk wars, all of them pivotal murders.  Worse yet, it seems the mystery of who killed the Viscount of Verbobonc is finally settled.  The wretch ‘admits’ to it readily, and names his patron:  none other than The Old One Himself, Iuz.Augustin really wants to kill him on the spot.C’min weighs in with the faction that would put the miscreant to use, and the party spends a tense few hours, the assassin regaling them with tales of his murderous exploits, and Augustin attempting to provoke a fight without overtly opposing the party’s wishes.  Imagine the relief in the room when the party can finally venture into the lowest level of the deadliest dungeon they’ve ever seen.</blockquote>

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