The House Betrayal Built

Mirtul 23, 1373

After the doors slammed behind them, Faridoon immediately turned and began trying to force them open, but could not despite his best efforts. Drall, using his divine powers, examined the vantage point with detect magic, revealing that the entire house was pulsing with veins of raw magical energy, but was particularly concentrated directly above them on the second floor. If they wanted to escape, they needed to figure out what magic was keeping them here. Setting out, Vuutharak, Faaridoon and Drall, with his “friend” in toe ventured out in the was was left of the living room. The rafter above had at some point collapsed, smashing a large hole in floor and barring exit through the front door. Upon stepping out, the tattered remains of a table cloth sprang to life dancing for a moment before pulling out a body from the ruins and attacking them like a marionette. Before destroying the cloth, it dropped the body from it’s entanglement, revealing Dynff. After, Dynff related he had been sent by Jonny to investigate before the others had arrived. He had just broken in, he heard a loud noise, and blacked out. A stairwell ran up to the second floor from the living room, but before ascending them, the group decided to investigate the others rooms first.

Drall entered the decaying remains of the kitchen and was struck by a vivid aberration appearing before him. A young boy in purple robes was preparing food. He hears the sound of the front door shut and a older voice call out “Ashton, come here! I want you to meet someone. Her name is Sethlin. She’ll be staying with us for a bit…” The boy in the robes pauses, and then in a fit hurls a knife at the wall, before the image fades away. Suddenly, five knives in the room sprung to life and begin attacking Drall. As he retreats from the kitchen, defending himself from the flurry of flying knives, the other see him and come to his add. Once all the knives are sundered, Drall relates his vision much to the dismay of the others.

The four continue into the living room, where the remains of a grand mantle piece lay in ruins. Abruptly a sofa attacks them, imbued with the magic following through the house. After smashing it to pieces, Faaridoon and Vuutharak decide they’ve had enough and being trying to pry a hole through the boarded up windows, while Dynff and Drall head into the study.

The former study was completely wrecked. One bookshelf remained standing that Drall began shifting through, while Dynff sorted through a mess of papers on the floor. Finding nothing of interest, Dynff had turned around to suddenly see a young man in purple robes sitting at the desk. The figure stood up placed a phantom book on the shelf, returned to the chair and took out a piece of paper and a pen. As he began to write a distant sound from above coming from the second floor began to slowly grow louder. It was a heavy thumping sound with cries of ecstasy. The robed figure wrote for a moment , stopped, gripped the pen in his hand tightly and then stabbed his arm with incredible force, letting out a piercing scream. Dynff wretched in pain as the scream threatened to damage his psyche. After recovering, Dynff and Drall searched the bookshelf for the possible book the phantom had placed on it. They found it and took it back to the other two to explain what had happened. Faridoon and Vuutarak had given up fighting the house – realizing it was keeping them there.

Vuutharak looked over the book, before consulting his ancestral telling bones for further guidance. It was entitled “Of Clockwork and Magicka Obscura by Meldrath Cogsmith” and contained explanations the theoretical works of combining clockwork machina with various sources of power, including steam, strange minerals and arcane magic. The central focus of the book seemed to have been the problem of combining clockwork machines with magical sources of power. The book was dated 1219, The Year of Prideful Tales.

Having explored the entire first floor and deciding not to venture into the basement without good cause, the four traveled carefully to the second floor. In the den, just past the stairs they found a mass of clothes and linens that had been dragged out the rooms by someone or something. In the corner stood a large stuff bear, the onyl remaining decoration. Convinced the bear would animate and attack them, the group attempted to walk past it, only to be attacked by animated cloth from pile of clothes.

Investigating the first door, the four discovered the master bedroom, long ago ransacked and dismantled. The only remaining furniture was a stained king sized bed and a small trunk, where a family of rats had made a family out of papers. The only intact papers they had found amongst the rat’s nest were adoption papers from Rolling Hill Orphanage, for a 12 year old boy named Ashton Fanemir, dated 1293 Year of the Talking Skull and a note that read the following:

Dear (illegible),

(Destroyed by water) PS. Thank you for asking about my apprentice Ashton, he is doing just fine. He has taken surprisingly well the Arcane arts, though I’m hesitant to enroll him in the The Arcanexicanium. I think he will do fine to assist me here with my studies.

Wandering off a bit, Dynff entered the first room around the corner. It was a maddening sight: dozen of papers had been stuck to the wall covered with burn marks, ink and water stains. In the center of the room was a tattered jorunal with only a few pages left intact. Dynff, investigating the journal found two legible entries:

Flamerule 14, 1308 …Marious has received notice from the Arcanexicanium regarding his request for financial assistance for his research… the bastards have denied him. We’ll have to turn to the houses for funding. House Kelnar and Samreich both seem promising…

Nightal 20, 1310 … I’ve been having strange dreams since Sethlin came to stay with us… I awake late in the night to the sound of rushing air, and as I sit up a black mass if forming above my bed. Suddenly the air stops and a thousand hungry crows fly from the black orb. Then a figure of a woman appears, with raven black hair and two bladed weapons at her side. As body forms from the darkness, burning pitch beings to flow from my eyes and then I awake… Although she is young, he eyes seem much older…

As Dynff read the last journal entry, the images that are described, begin to appear, resulting in him stumbling back out of the room, clenching his eyes. Drall, tended to his injuries, saw none, but healed him with his divine power, resulting in his vision returning.

Moving down the hallway, Dynff with the group in toe entered the room at the end of the hallway. There, Dynff saw a vision of young girl enter the room in a bathrobe, sit at the desk, dead a note, walk over to the bed and placed it under the mattress. She returned to the desk, took out a dagger and slit her throat. Dynff was just able to resist the urge to follow her footsteps. After the apparition vanished, he found the note under the mattress which read simply: How could you?

Having an idea for what they might see, the group entered the final room, with Drall in the lead. As he stepped in, he saw the final pieces come together. Marious stood reviewing his notes on a pedestal in a ritual room, with the body of a young girl in a circle. Ashton enters the room, slowly creeping up behind Marious with the dagger Sethlin used to kill herself tightly gripped in his fist. Just as he went to plunge the dagger into his back, Marious caught site of him, turned and released a spell and reduced Ashton quivering corpse. Marious collecting his notes and leaving the room in haste. When the images passed, he saw what remained: two skeletons, one in the circle, one with a dagger still in his hands. Drall grabbed the dagger, which had several marking indicating it a ritual weapon of Shar, as the rest of the group entered the room.

On the pedestal they found a tattered age-worn note that had been left behind. It read:

To better investigate the source of the strange energy permeating the house, I’ve created a permanent circle to take use further underground, closer to the source in the basement. I’ve placed it in a secret space behind the barrels on the eastern wall. I can only hope the magical energy effecting the house dose not alter the destination of the circle…

Just as they were about to leave the room, a cry rang out as the room flexed above them, distorting the space around them. A ghostly figure appeared in the room, demanding that the group bring him “his things, his precious things, his journal, robe and wand” or he would make them suffered with him for all eternity. the group agreed and began going through the house gathering the missing items. As Vuutharak waked past the bear in the den on the second floor, a terrible face appeared on it’s head of an older man screaming “Ashton! I told you not to animate any more thing in the house!” and a boys voice crying out “I didn’t! It’s the house! I didn’t!” Suddenly the face on the bear let out a terrible roar and flame enveloped Vuutharak, knocking him unconscious. Drall quickly came to his aid, and after Vuutharak was back on his feet the group continued their search.

They found the wand in the library, the robes in the den, and journal scattered in his room. As they returned the items to Ashton, his figure slowly started to take more of a shape. When the last item absorbed into him, he was fulled visible and formed, although still ethereal. He had also gained some of his consciousness but still suffered from something he claimed “was keeping him trapped, something made by Marious as punishment.”

Dynff, was struck by an idea and returned to the living area on the first floor, where he found a strange clock, that showed no signs of age in spite of its environment. Dynff opened the clock, and saw a strange gem, similar to a De’Ryan’s Eye, but of a different cut. With a swift tug, Dynff ripped the gem from the clock, ceasing it to function, which was followed by a sudden quaking in the house as the voice of Ashton echoed out “I am FREE!”

Returning to the ritual room, the group meet with Ashton one last time before he left their world. He explained he was grateful for all that they had done, and answered their questions about the nature of Marious’ studies. Most importantly, when he was asked “what could a machine the size of a building do, if there was a big enough power supply for it?” to which he answered “it could change to world.” Just as Ashton was about disappear he mentioned that he hoped he would be reunited at last with his love now that he was free. As he faded away, Faridoon humbled to himself: “Not likely…”

Visiting Friends

Mirtul 20 – Mirtul 22 1373

Faridoon awoke to the heavy rain beating on the single cloudy window in their dreary private room at the Day Harbor Inn. Faridoon stumbled awake, his head beating from the exceptionally heavy drinking the night before in celebration of being around something that resembles civilization. Amongst the empty bottles on the desk, there was a note from Dynff. He had left earlier on business. He said he would return in a few days, Mask permitting, and that the Hangmen would be in touch soon expecting a report from their journey to the Samreich abandoned mines. Drall awoke as Faaridoon clambered through the empty bottles in the room. He remembered the night before and quickly washed the dried blood from his hands. Faaridoon went quickly downstairs for breakfast while Drall, in somber tones, said he had business to attend to as well.

Elsewhere in the Upper Docks, under the busy streets around the northern port, Vuutharak awoke to heavy water moving outside his sewer lair. The day was s special day that stood out in his memory from his hatchling days to even the darkest moments of his slavery. It was the day of the year when the Dark Talon clan paid respect and tribute to Malgorvanoxx, the Ashenmaw, ancient sir of his tribe, and slayer of Nathlandale. He tended to his thing before beginning the short ritual. He went through the same motions he always had for now more than a decade. He traced a complex set of ruins in a circle in the dirt with his talon. He adorned his loin cloth with his tribe symbol on it, knelt at the edge and began to chant. From his side, he took out a worn leather bag and emptied it into the circle, casting the ornate ruin covered bones all around the center. Yultageka had taught him how to use the bones, how to look into the them and ask the wisdom and insight of his ancestors—unfortunately he just never saw anything important. He began to chant – Ia Ia Malgorvanoxx Fataga, Ia Ia Malgorvanoxx Fataga. Over and over. After sometime, it looked like this day would pass like all the others, in uneventful disappointment. But as soon as he stopped chanting, he became away of dozen of other voices all around chanting with him. Suddenly the bones began to move slowly and spell something: What is your offering to the Ashenmaw? Knowing well that Malgorvanoxx often accepted precious gems as offerings, he placed the emeralds he had found underground in the circle. As he did, the ruins began to glow a faint green and the room somehow became even darker. A shadow stretched out from the center of the circle against the wall and unfurled immense shadowy wings. Two blinding green eyes open in the darkness as a torrent of wind began to whip around the underground lair. The shadow spoke: “Vuutharak Vorastrix… take what your forbears had before you, the time has come. Will you accept my gift?” And as Vuutharak nodded slowly one of the emeralds he had placed in the circle floated up quickly into the air and then flew at an incredible speed, slamming into the place his right eye had once been. It burned with tremendous fire as acid poured from the socket, spilling over his hands as he clawed and winced. The shadow spoke again: ““Listen now! The time has come. Use the gift that I have given you!” “I have slept for too long, and my bones are growing restless…” “Creatures of soft flesh and blood have moved my bones… taken me away from my hallowed marsh… Vuutharak, you are the last of my offspring! The soft ones seek you… They seek you… Vuuthrak, they are coming for you! I will awaken!” And then the room was quite, only light coming from the still glowing ruins around the circle. Vuutharak rushed from his room, and headed towards the Day Harbors Inn.

Meanwhile, Drall traveled through the heavy spring rain to meet with Morgana De’Fey who was surprised to see him. Drall recounted nearly everything he had seen and heard about what was transpiring underground between the the Cult of the Lady’s Hand and the Mechanex Faction. In exchange he asked that Morganna help return his beloved companion Dabien from the dead. Morganna, at first confused by the request to return his zombie dog form the dead, instead played into his fantasy presuming this will help her better manipulate the poor half-orc further down the road. She told him she would prepare a body by the evening and to come by then. Drall left the Watery Nook for Xobol’s Taxidermy to gather some supplies for the ritual that night.

Back at the tavern, Faaridoon just finished his second meal and fifth drink, when he heard a commotion outside. After a moment, two Grey Knights entered and began to harass patrons. Faaridoon kept to his drink until the two came to him, asking if he knew where they could find a human by the name of Faaridoon. Faaridoon, not willing to be intimated by the two guards, rose from his chair and made a motion for his mace. The two guards backed off and handed him a letter, stating that they were just trying to deliver a message. Faaridoon took the letter and said he would give it to him if he ran into him. To noted stated plainly: Green Boar. Sundown. Mirtul 22. After a few minutes, Vuutharak arrived, the rain running off his black scales and excitedly explained (or tired to explain) what had occurred at his yearly ritual. Faaridoon was confused. He listened and then passed him the note from the Grey Knights. The two drank, discussed what to do next, and waited from Drall to return.

Drall returned to the Watery Nook at sundown, and reviewed and adjusted Morgana’s preparation before she began the ritual. After she finished, she warned Drall that necromancy is officially illegal on the island and that her brother Morgan, actively hunts with his organization those necromancers that try to go even farther than what is taken in the underground as acceptable. After the ritual, Drall adorned his new “trusted friend” with armor and clothing, masking the skeleton’s face with a cowl and hood.

Drall and his new friend arrived at the Day Harbor Inn an hour after sundown. Now together the three discussed what to do next and agreed to go to the Green Boar the next night. They passed the evening over drinks and foods, and spent most the next day doing the same. That evening, they traveled to the Green Boar where they meet Jonny Undergallows and Enveris Tren, Dynff’s Shadowfather. The three told them both everything that had happened, their imprisonment and escape. In exchange for the log book detailing slaver trades oversaw by House Samerich, Jonny agreed to put them up in a safe tennament in the north call the Corner House Apartments, with Dynff. He also gave them three hundred gold to divide amongst themselves for their troubles. He also instructed them to go to the location detailed on the noted found on Il’xan’s body from the slave market.

That night, they made their way through the sewers as fog descended upon the island towards the Black Hundreds Club, a place Faaridoon was fairly with and recognized as the haunt of a local gang to the Downs called the Black Hundred. Entering the alley, the group stumbled across two humans and an ogre. The two sides swiftly attacked ending with the death of one of the humans and the ogre, Vuutharak severely injured, and Faaridoon pinning the other human to the ground. After a quick interrogation, they learned the three were members of the Black Hundred and knew nothing of Aaron Klinhelm and “the Core”. He said, Kane their leader, told them to a few drow and humans through every now and then who had been headed to an abandoned and rumored haunted building at the end of the alley. The group let the bleeding human go, but not before Drall inflicted a bleeding touch on him. The man ran off screaming in pain.

The three headed to the abandoned house at the end of the block. There they found the dilapidated three story structure in ruins. They entered through the front gate into the the large, overgrown court yard. Before they could make it to the door, Vuutharak was grabbed by vine that began to strangle him. The group fought back the vine and entered the house. Just as they all crossed the threshold, a strong gust of wind slammed the doors behind them. The walls began to warp inward as the voice grew louder from the distance: “Help… me!”

Daybreak

??? – Mirtul 20 1373

As the Drow knockout poison wore off, Dynff, Faridoon, Drall and Vuutharak found themselves suspended from the ceiling of a damp dimly lit room by chains around their hands, their feet dangling over a blood stained grate. The only light came from red embers burning in a smith furnace in front of them.

After a moment of struggling to get free, a large scared Drow entered the room followed closely a tall but older human dressed in a fine dark blue doublet and a brown shoulder cape. A jewel encrusted brooch holding the cape around his neck was the symbol of House Samreich and the leather bracers on his arms were branded with the orange gear of the Mechanex Faction. The group immediately recognized him as Senator Aaron Klinhelm.

The four resisted all attempts to pry information out of them – even after the drow, whose name was Zethlin, beat them repeatedly with a red hot poker he was using to stir coals in the furnace. Faaridoon revealed that they had been hired by Samreich to delve into the mines, like other explorers had been, but were betrayed. Aaron Klinhelm recognized them as the group he saw in the basement of Jinx Witherstone’s warehouse.

After Zethlin severally beat the group, particularly Faaridoon and Vuutharak who were the most resistant, Aaron called for him to stop – telling him that he had to go consult with Meldrath on what to do and instructed him to “let them rot until he returned.”

Back in their cells, Drall was strangely silent and reserved and sat quietly as Faaridoon attempted to break from his manacles. Meanwhile Vuutharak began to crew through his chains, while Dynff sat thinking about the situation. After a few hours Vuutharak was mostly free, but lacked a means to break the lock on his cell door. Drall looked to his god for guidance, and using a command got the guard to enter his cell. Unfortunately, his hold person was resisted by the guard. Seizing on the only opportunity they may have, Faaridoon leapt on the human guard, tackling him to the ground and smashing his head against the ground.

Now free from the cells, the group thought of what to do next, only to spot two drow slavers down the hallway, watching them escape! The four made a break for it running as quickly as they could down the hallways of the compound. Faaridoon, Vuuthrak and Dynff weren’t quick enough and a mob of guard descended upon them. Drall made it though, eventually running out of the compound and into a vast underground slave market! He doubled back after he reached the market, loosing the guards that had chased after him, including Zethlin and another drow named Il’xan. Returning to the group Drall found the three had killed the guards who intersected them, but not with out Dynff being knocked unconscious.

After healing Dynff and regrouping, the four headed to the main entrance that Drall had found, only to run into the guards Drall had lost! A fierce battle ensued – the group without their normal weapons or armor fought bitterly for freedom. Finally, the four got the upper hand, as Dynff jumped up on a table and wrapping the chain that locked his hands together around Zethlins neck, kicked with all his might at the back of Zethlin’s head snapping his neck. Il’xan fell quickly after, along with the other guards. On Il’xan the ground found a note that read as follows:

Il’xan,

Included in this letter is a diagram of how to travel to the location just outside the core. I’ve consulted with Meldrath and he agrees – it is too dangerous to let the four live, even if they would agree with work with us. They are not to be sold. Kill them and make sure the bodies are never found. When you have finished meet me at the core excavation site. Our Sharite partners have completed their task of digging a path to the core, but I suspect they are plotting to betray us. It has something to do with the cursed workings of their bitch goddess and the core.

Aaron Klinhelm

Also, Drall found several notes detailing the dealings of the market – implementing House Samreich as the owners of massive underground slave market that was used as a clearing house for dozen of slave companies that came to the island to trade. Drall also took to dismembering Zethlin’s body, pocketing an ear before he left. He would have his revenge piece by piece.

Now, free from their cells and having enacted the beginnings of their revenge on those that took them here – the group found themselves still locked in the compound with a huge hostile slave market just outside the doors. While Vuutharak began snooping around the compound and found a room with several supplies – ale, oil for lanterns, crates of rations, as well as a repository for weapons and armor they stripped from the slaves including theirs. Rearmed and ready for the fight, Drall and Vuutharak rallied the freed slaves. In a passionate declaration, Vuutharak told them the plain truth: “I was once as slave as well, and I know there is nothing for you here but death and servitude. Better to die free than sever any man!” And with that, they rolled a barrel of lantern oil into the middle of the market and set it afire. Chaos broke loose on the market at slaves chained together struggle to feel the burning oil. Screams of guards and merchants echoed in the cavern as the slaves flanked left and right into the market, heading north. Meanwhile, the four slipped off to the east, convincing an Illthid merchant and a guard that they were fleeing the slave revolt as well!

Slowing their pace once they reached a safe distance from the slave market the group traveled for several hours through winding stone tunnels until they finally emerged into one of lower pipelines of the sewers. There they rested for a time before continuing on, with Vuutharak as the lead. After an encounter with a large Cockroach, the group finally broke free from the sewers, coming to the surface in the very western part of the Upper Docks! The day was almost over on the surface, and but the sea air filled their lungs and felt good. Faaridoon took a secure room at the Day Harbors Inn with Dynff and Drall, while Vuutharak returned to his sewer layer by the docks.

While Faaridoon and Dynff immediately took to resting, Drall was still overcome by the loss of his dear companion Daebin to the Drow slavers. He spoke with Jane “Split Tongue” for awhile before he wondered out into the foggy night. He returned several hours later with his arms covered in blood, and a tattered brass brooch clutched in his hands.

What Lies Beneath

3 Mirtul 1373 – ???

Deep underground, Drall, Faridoon, Dynff and Vuutharak slept nervously. Faridoon’s dreams were haunted by Asb’el once again, this time more vividly than ever before. He found himself floating in the air, disembodied and surrounded by thick smoke. Through the cloud he could hear chanting, and as it grew louder, the smoke faded away and transformed into a raging fire. As the chanting crescendoed the fire bubble burst apart and Faridoon found himself in a circle a cavern floor, a half-fiend chanting and his childhood gang standing behind the creature—all of them staring at him. The voice of Asb’el boomed around him as a transaction took place between the demon haunting his dreams and his childhood gang. He awoke as the deal was sealed.

When the rest awoke from their sleep, Faridoon was already awake nursing a small flask of liquor. Faridoon inquired with Drall if dreams were real, to which Drall dismissed as the ramblings of an early morning drunk. After packing up, the group headed out to find Boric the Grey, who the svirfneblin said might help them. As they passed through the mines heading back to where they last saw him, they noticed the bodies of the monstrous animals that had attacked them the day before were gone.

Drall was the first to approach Boric, who greeted him friendly. After he saw Dynff and Dabien, Drall’s “dog”, Boric’s attitude changed for the worse. He told them it was likely that the different sections of the mines were connected deeper below, but not on this level. He explained he “over looked the area and his friends” but no one inquired as to what exactly he did or was doing in the abandoned mines. Dynff had asked about the tapestries hung on his walls, ones that were similar to the murals found in the ruins they stayed in, to which Boric explained were depictions of the ancient kingdom of Netheril. Netheril, he mentioned, was a empire of powerful wizards whose cities floated in the skies by magic. He knew the cities fell when the magic stopped, but he wasn’t sure why or why the ruins were here.

Unsatisfied with his answers the group departed to the path they found the day before that descended deeper into the mines. Moving down that twisting tunnel for several hundred feet, the group came to a large cavern with three sets of mine tracks and three mine carts setup in a row on the closest one. Seeing it as an easy way down, the group jumped in and shoved off. The rusty wheels screeched as the carts began to move, but then faded into the sound of the carts moving quickly down the track. The group used the hand brakes to maintain a reasonable speed. After several minutes the tunnel opened into an enormous cavern—the track suspended in the air about the darkness below. At some point while riding around on the tracks, a group of Sharite Priestesses and what appeared to be an undead miner came up next to them in another cart. A battle ensured, leaving the Sharites injured and quickly fleeing in their cart.

The track continued on. After clearing the enormous cavern, the tunnel narrowed down, so that now the walls were only about a hundred feet away. As the cart whipped down the track, the group began to see small fires burning in holes and tunnels along the vast cavern walls. Around the fire, dozens of figures stood methodically mining at the walls. The scene passed quickly, and the track finally came to an end at a much lower level of the mine. After exploring the area, the group came across an other Sharite Priestess tending several undead as they mined away. The priestess put up quite a fight with her half-dozen minions, but was ultimately felled. A map on her indicated that the area was expecting a “shipment of four individuals, due three days ago.”

Drow slaver inspects his catch

Exhausted from the mine cart ride and the battle with the Sharite, the group left the area following the map to a level even deeper below. At a point several minutes walk from the Sharite and her miner cohorts, a band of Drow slavers jumped from the shadows and overcame the group. In the midsts of the battle, Drall collapsed unconscious from a poisoned dagger wound. His final thoughts left Dabein defending his master furiously. After an intense standoff, one of the slavers finally picked up Drall’s own mace, and with a mighty swing, landed the final blow that shattered Drall’s beloved friend to pieces.

When the four began to regain consciousness, they found their hands and feet bound by heavy iron manacles and that they were suspended from the ceiling above a large metal grate. The only light came from embers of a smiths furnace burning in front of them. Along the walls were various smithing tools and some others – pokers, saws, tongs, hammers. No more than a moment after the group regained consciousness the the only entrance to the room, a heavy iron door, opened. A large scared drow entered, followed by a familiar face: Aaron Klinhelm of House Samreich.

Return to the Wreckage

30 Tarsakh – 3 Mirtul 1373

Under a mechanex streetlamp, just a few blocks north of the Broken Mug, Dynff, Drall, Faridoon, and Vuutharak paused for a moment to catch their breath and collect their thoughts. They had just relieved the explorers from the tavern a few moments ago of their coin purses, their pass to enter the Samreich mines, and their lives. As they rested in the brisk spring night, the bodies they had thrown into the bay drifted out to sea. The only problem was that there were four of them and three passes. They would head to Jacobson’s printing before the morning to make a duplicate. First they would make a quick stop at Faridoon’s tenement apartment to pick up a few supplies.

When they arrived they found Faridoon’s apartment in it’s typical disarray of discarded liquor bottles, half eaten food and dirty clothes. This struck Drall as strange, when he considered that he straighten up the room last time he was here, no more than a few hours ago. Once Faridoon noticed this too he was startled. He checked under his mattress for ring he had took from Senator Olis Samreich on the night they murdered him only to find it gone. It was clear someone had been there. Faridoon packed up his few things, leaving behind his spears, and left with the group to the Crescent Downs. They traveled threw the sewers, along the path Vuutharak was most familiar with, arriving at Jacobson’s printing several hours later.

At Jacobson’s printing the voice behind the one way mirror informed them several others had already been through his shop over the past month or so requesting the same pass, granting access to the Samreich mines in the north. They purchased one, and returned to the Upper Docks, arriving in the early morning. Dynff, Faridoon and Drall took a secure room at The Day Harbor Inn while Vuutharal returned to his lair in the sewers just east of the Skull and Four Bones.

In the morning the group meet up again in the tavern of the Day Harbor’s. Over breakfast they decided to go their separate ways to the Crescent Downs and meet up at a small cafe Vuutarak and Faridoon were familiar with. From there they would head to the Samreich warehouse the passes had indicated that should report to. Vuutharak and Dynff took to the sewers since they both lacked wall passes. The other two traveled through the gates above ground, the only trouble they had was a clumsy merchant running into Faridoon.

By afternoon the group was at the warehouse in the Northern Crescent Downs. It stood amongst the other abandoned or run down structures in the area – the only difference was a large cloth sign outside its steel door that read: Explorers Wanted! Inside a bugbear confronted the group as they walked in, but after inspecting their passes, escorted them through the warehouse down to the subbasement. While walking through the warehouse, the group noticed dozens of tubes, wires, gears, even an occasional object that looked like leg or arm, being worked on by a dozen humans and dwarves. In the subbasement, the bugbear guard left them in a small drafting rooming, where dozens of schematics, diagrams and blueprints lay scattered around. They snooped around in the time they had alone – discovering a large schematic labeled Acranodynamic Convergence Engine that had the words “Check scaling for clocktower – Estimated output 1,000,000 Eldritch Volts” written on the side. Just as they finished inspecting the schematic, the bugbear guard returned with a man in Azure robes – clearly a arcane caster, a human from House Samreich – Aaron Klinhelm, and a gnome with googles on his head and a tool belt. The man in the Azure robes and Aaron stopped for a moment peering at the group before continuing on. The gnome introduced himself as Jinx Witherstone.

The gnome explained that the purpose of the explorers was to scout and map out the mines, that had been abandoned for at least a century. He gave them all strange mechanex amulets that vibrated slightly on their skin and escorted them with the bugbear down a tunnel leading to the mines. Down the way, they joined up with another group of explorers. At the entrance to the mines Jinx departed the group, wishing them luck. The entrance to the mine was protected by an immense field of glowing energy that originated form too strange mechanex generators. Passing through the field left them warm for a moment. Just past the main entrance the tunnel opened into a large cavern that split into different wings of the mine complex, each with another gate. The group and the other explorers separated, both accompanied by a gang of hobogoblins and bugbears.

Several hundred feet past the entrance to their section of the mines, their amulets stopped vibrating. Shortly after that, they heard several screams from the way they came. The bugbear guard and his hobogoblin henchmen suddenly turned on the group! Once they were defeated the group attempted to pass the entrance again, only this time Faridoon was several burnt as he did so. It looked as if they were trapped for the time.

Vuutharak, Drall, Faridoon and Dynff, proceeded to explore the vast first level of the mines. During the exploration they came across a minator dressed in fine silk whom they avoided, as well as several monstrous creatures – crocodiles, over sized centipedes, dark mantles – living in the deep underground. After a days worth of wandering the mines, group bedded down in a section of the mine that turned into strange ruins. Inside, Drow markings indicated that the room was used as a waypoint. Other markings depicted enormous floating cities, like inverted mountain tops.

They continued on for another day, accidentally stumbling across a svirfnebiln (deep gnome) trading post. After a tense diplomatic encounter the group traded for a few items and after a few questions, were told to speak with the minator, whose name they were told was Boric the Grey, for assistance in escaping. They left the deep gnomes, and made camp in an abandoned tunnel.

The City’s True Face

29 Tarsakh 1373

Faridoon awoke late in the night to a knock at his door. Jack “The Feather”, an old friend from his past was waiting outside. He demanded that Faridoon come quickly to meet “the others.” His body still weak from illness, Faridoon followed Jack through the foggy streets to an abandoned pier of the northern docks. There, a small watering hole called the Broken Mug stood. Faridoon was familiar with the tavern from his youth and was on friendly terms with it’s owner a female shield dwarf named Dakartua Rohelm. The tavern was empty when they entered, except for several youth around a table, the largest one being referred to as Brandon. Just as the two were walking in, a youth next to Brandon was exclaiming that he was worried about the person they were going to meet stating “Brandon! I don’t trust him, this… this… freak we are meeting. He is too much like those infernal creatures! The cutters are practically kin!” As Jack and Faridoon approached the table, Brandon called out to them, but referred to Faridoon as “Kevil”, one of his friends that had died on that night many years ago. Faridoon, becoming unease began to step away towards the door. Just then Bradon began to laugh a deep laugh, his body twisting and growing, the room faded away to fire, and Asb’el again stood before him. Faridoon, taking out his mace and standing his ground demanded to know what the demon wanted. He replied that he had been summoned by Faridoon and his friends, and could not “escape” until they were all dead. Then, lifting his huge demon-faced mace over his head swung a tremendous blow at Faridoon, who suddenly awoke in a cold sweat, but feeling much better—his body having fought off the illness.

Drall finished his duties early in the morning, just as Urcheck call for him. A letter had come from Sevil, which contained instructions to visit the renowned Morgana De’Fey in the Upper Docks. Drall packed up his things, and with Daebian in toe, told Urcheck he would return when he could and the left for the Upper Docks. He arrived at the Watery Nook, by the afternoon and was taken immediately before Morgana, just as she was finishing a fairly lively argument with her brother, Morgan De’Fey. Morgana and Drall discussed three important things. One, that Morgan, her brother, leads a band of renegade assassins who hunt and destroy necromancers who go too far. Two, in exchange for reporting on a recent acquaintance of his, a Drow by the name of Dynff, she would provide him with access to her workshop and library. Three, his first order of business was to retrieve a a piece of the head stone from the grave of Piere De’May as well as a flask of bog water from the Fogdown Cemetery. Drall agreed on all three accounts and wandered north to the Day Harbor’s Inn to find his recent traveling partners.

Dynff received a message early in the morning at his room at the Day Harbors Inn from Enveris, his Shadowfather requesting presence at the Tithing Place. Dynff arrived as rain broke, and found Evenis, a lone figure in the storm, waiting for him by the fountain. He spoke briefly and to the point: Dynff and his partners were to meet with Jonny Undergallows at the Green Boar, just past sundown at the Green Boar. Dynff left quickly, stopping first at Faridoon’s tenement apartment, where he found him sitting on his bed finishing a bottle of rum, mumbling that he had a “bad night.” The two left, heading out into the pouring rain, and marked the alley outside of Vuutharak’s lair with the message: Meet at the Day Harbor’s Inn before sundown and then headed to the inn to wait. Hours later, Vuutharak arrived, and then surprisingly, shortly after, Drall. Dynff explained to Drall they were going to meet the leader of The Hangmen, Jonny Undergallows, and that he could come along, if he thought he could be of any use. Drall agreed and the four left for the Green Boar.

The Green Boar Tavern was alive and belligerent when the four arrived. Inside, jocular groups of Hangmen milled about trading stories and drinks. The four sat at a booth by the wall, while Dynff announced their arrival to the bartender. After intimidating a drunken Hangman who tried to harass the group, the bartender came to their table and told them Jonny was ready to see them. The four entered a back room, where Eveneris and Jonny sat around a table. He explained that he was pleased with the work they had done and inquired about any information they might have gathered. They related that they found a strange star ring on the senator, that had a symbol which was the same as a Sharite priestess they found in ruins under the Northern Crescent Downs. They also explained that adventurers and explorers were being contracted to explor the abandoned mines in the North owned by House Samreich. Jonny, requested that they find the northern mines and investigate what House Samreich was doing there. He told them he learned recently that adventures being called to the mines were staying at the Broken Mug.

Brawl at the Broken Mug

After their meeting with Jonny, the group departed immediately for the Broken Mug. They arrived several hours after sundown, just as the rain stopped and the fog began to roll in, passing two drunk sailors who were stumbling through the streets singing chanties to the moon. Inside, the Broken Mug, a dozen or more day-laborers, dock workers and sailors gathered for a rowdy evening. Darkatua immediately recognized Faridoon and was delighted to see him again, having not seen him for years now. She offered the group drinks and in reply to Faridoons questions, told them a group of explorers were in the back. The group immediately made their way into the back area, where a fiddler played on a table. Sitting alone a human, and elf and a goblin spoke loudly over drinks about their good luck in being selected to adventure into the northern mines. Faridoon, sat next to the goblin and began to pick a fight. Suddenly the bar was a flurry of punches and smashing mugs. The half-orc sailors at the front of bar who had been eying a bugbear day-laborer started to fight. The fiddler ducked under a table as a mug smashed over his head. Through Drall’s intervention, their fight was taken out back behind the tavern, but inside the brawl continued to wage on. With little difficultly, the group slew the explorers – first the goblin, then the human and elf – relieved them of their coin purses and their passes to the Northern mines, and dumped their bodies into the bay. Darkartua smiled a familiar smile as Faridoon apologized for the mess and ran out the front door.

The group quickly fled the scene, heading north to regroup and inspect the items they had taken from the explorers.

All That Lives in Darkness

28 Tarsakh 1373

Dynff, Faridoon and Vuutharak finished thier elaborate planning and killing of Sen. Olis Samreich and took a few days to stay low and recuperate. On 27 Tarsakh, the Fogdown Herald came out with a special edition paper, the front page article detailing the assassination of the Senator, and pointed out several pieces of evidence that the authorities were investigating: the bloody footprints leading to the window, the arrows and poisons found in both bodies, and researching which guests were not present at the festival after the assassination, but had arrived before. The article also mentioned that a special detective had begun to actively look into the crime. Among the possessions of Senator were two gold rings which Vuutharak had took: one with an elaborate emerald crest of House Samreich and another with a black and purple nautical star.

Strange nautical symbol

Reminded of his debt to Pox of the Withering Leaf, Vuutharak recruited the help of his former partners to find a missing “package” for Pox. Along the way they picked up a charming young half-orc by the name of Drall, who was sent by his employer to assist Vuuthrak and company in their investigations. After following the path that Drall’s couriers typically take (which as it turns out were undead rats stuff with illicit goods) the group came upon the entrance to a pocket of ruins deep below the sewers. Inside, the group found a Thiefling priestess of Shar tending to the entrances, who Drall recognized as a worshiper of Shar by the symbol on the palm of her gauntlets. Drall convinced her to help the group out, and in doing so, she and her three zombie bodyguards led the party to area where a pair of ghouls had been feeding on Drall’s rats that passed through the area. During the fight, Faaridoon had been bitten by one of the foul ghouls. After destroying the them, the Sharite wanted a replacement for her “guards”. The group dispatched the priestess and her guards, and using a rat scout, returned to the surface. By the time everyone returned, Faridoon was already feeling the effects of some disease, likely contracted from his bite. The package, which turned out to be a pair of demonic mandibles were returned to Pox, and the group went their separate ways: Dynff to the Day Harbor Inn, Vuutharak to his sewer lair by the Upper Docks, Faridoon to his small tenement apartment north of the docks, and Drall to Xobol’s Taxidermy.

An Evening of Blood

26 Tarsakh 1373

Dynff, Vuutharak and Faridoon waited patiently in their room at the Crow’s Roost for the hour of the party to arrive. They had decided 6:30 would be an appropriate time to begin the operation, meeting first in the alley behind Aldonmir’s Manor they scouted days before.

Their plan was now complete: Vuutharak would enter magically disguised as a Sunelf, with Faridoon as his bodyguard. Dynff would climb his way onto the balcony outside the west second floor bedroom. Vuutharak would approach Senator Olis Samreich, hand him a note detailing an offer to discuss business with his “employer from the Drow house Maelefka of Nyvin’dondrenz” in the room Dynff will be waiting in. Once the Senator is in the room, they will spring the trap.

As twilight began to fall on Fogdown, through the seas of people making their journeys to festivals across the island, the three headed to the alley to being. As they arrived, they saw the party had begun and guests were arriving to the manor. Vuutharak took the scroll in hand and began attempting to manipulate the magic item. With great difficultly he succeeded, after nearly an hour and half of trying. As they waited for Vuutharak, Dynff climbed onto the roof of Aldonmir’s Manor. Now with the spell successful they were on a timer: 30 minutes until Vuutharak reverted back to his true form!

Appearing as a dashing young Sunelf, Vuutharak and Faridoon entered the festival, the invitation passing as authentic. Inside they were greeted by a young noble by the name of Johnathan Samreich. He was egger to make the guests at home, and politely informed them dinner would begin in 20 minutes! Worried that his disguise would not last through dinner, Vuutharak requested to see Senator Olis Samreich on urgent business.

On the roof, Dynff entered into a family gallery in the attic: a hallway lined with painting of various Samreichian nobles of the past, and at the end, a large bronze statue of some goddess of earthly domains. As he approached the statue, his Drow senses went off suggesting some magical secret around the statue which he began to look for. Pressed for time, he abandoned his search and returned to the roof, securing his grappling hook, and rappelling his way to the second floor balcony to wait for Vuuthrak and Faridoon.

Inside, the Senator meet with Vuuthrak and took the note. He said he would return in a moment, stepping into the dinning area which guests were now being instructed to enter. Worried they would be trapped in the dinning hall, Vuutharak and Faridoon went out into a nearby hallway, under the guise of needing to use the restroom to freshen up.

As they waited in the hallway, thinking of what to do next, Senator Olis Samreich entered through the same door they had come through (from the ballroom) with his personal guard, Captain Steelbout. Vuuthrak led the way to the room.

Once they arrived, Vuutharak closed the door “for privacy”, as Captain Steelbout went around the room lighting the oil lanterns, and Faridoon “secured the room” and secretly swallowed a pinch of Redleaf. As soon as the room was lit, Dynff was revealed to be standing in front of glass balcony window, his hands behind his back; an ominous black shadow against the sky of the setting sun. Vuutharak opened the door and stepped aside; Capitan Steelbout prepared for trouble and placed his hand on his flail.

Immediately the Senator demanded to know “what business House Maelefka have meddling in the business of House Dy’Durith?” Grinning, Dynff tossed the garrot to Faridoon who snatched it out of the air, activated his magical tattoo and fired a poisoned bolt into Capitan Steelbout’s leg. Although injured, Capitan Steelbout fought off the poison. Faridoon, attempted to get the Senator in a garrot choke, but was disarmed by Captian Steelbout, and the Senator managed to fight off his grapple.

No longer in need of his disguise, Vuutharak leapt across the room, reaching out with his clawed hands while his Sunelf disguise bleed away midair, revealing his lizardfolk nature! With a fell swipe he gashed Capitan Steelbout’s neck, provoking his attention.

The battle ensued, with Captain Steelbout trying in vain to fend off the attackers. Dynff managed to poison the Senator, paralyzing him. With the Senator frozen in place, awaiting his death, the three focused on his personal guard.

Just then, Captain Steelbout gained the upper hand for a moment: Vuuthrak reeling back from an attack, Faridoon prone on the ground from being tripped, and Dynff’s poisoned arrows either not hitting or not working. Captain Steelbout turned to Faridoon to finish him with his flail as Faridoon began to stand. Deftly, Faridoon rolled on his side, avoiding the descending flail, and pulling out his mace, swung with all his might and caught Captain Steelbout in the leg, breaking it like a twig, knocking him unconscious!

The main threat neutralized, Faridoon slit the throat of the Senator and then Captain Steelbout, just as he was uttering his last words: “traitor!” Vuutharak took both gold rings on the Senator, despite Dynff insisting he give one to Faridoon, and Faridoon took the note they had passed to the Senator earlier and his garrot.

The three escaped to the roof, down into the sewers, and then finally back to the Crow’s Roost. From there they returned to the Upper Docks, with Vuutharak returning to his lair, and Faridoon and Dynff renting a secure room at the Day Harbor Inn.

Dirty Deeds

19-25 Tarsakh 1373

Faridoon and Vuutharak awoke to a bright spring day in Fogdown, the city streets bustling with activity, much of which was in preparation for the upcoming Green Grass Festival. Dynff had not returned from his personal business yet, but the two set out again from the Raven’s Tongue, in search of Etinee Blackmire, who they had learned the previous day may know more about Senator Olis Samreich and the Mechanex Faction.

When they found Etinee’s gallery on Burrow St., they were disappointed to found a rather slow-witted human attending it and Etinee nowhere to be found. The mumbling human informed the two that Etinee does not supervise the gallery during the day, only at night, and if they wished to purchase an item, to come back then.

Later that evening, just after sunset, Vuutharak and Faridoon returned to the gallery impersonating a fictitious noble and his bodyguard from a made up lizardfolk tribe along the Sword Coast. When Etinee greeted them in the main gallery, he was not fooled. He insisted they step into the back room to discuss the true nature of their business. Reluctantly, they agreed.

In the back room, Vuutharak continued to insist that he was a lizardfolk noble, despite Etinee’s visible rejection of the bluff and increasing frustration. Faridoon, thinking that Etinee was just a spineless, but witty, socialite, took it one step further – he insisted Vuutharak was a noble, and that Etinee shouldn’t ask any more questions. Startled and intimidated, Etinee reeled slighted and with his now white eyes staring into Faridoon’s, demanded he leave the gallery and, “go wait outside for your friend.” Dominated, Faridoon agreed.

Returning to their business, Vuutharak gave up his disguise and requested for Etinee’s help in getting into a party where Senator Olis Samreich will be on the night of the Green Grass Festival. Etinee agreed and offered his invitation to be copied for 75 gold, and stated he was helping for his “own reasons.” Vuutharak agreed to return the invitation no later than Tarsakh 21.

Vuutharak left quickly and grabbed Faridoon who had been wondering around outside, and was startled to find himself out there, claiming he was “just inside talking to Etinee.” Vuutharak explained that Faridoon had just stood up and left when Etinee had asked him to leave, and they both suspected magic was behind it.

With an invitation in hand, Faridoon recommended a well established printing shop on the other side of town, which has a reputation for being some of the best forgers in the area. They travel through the cover of night and fog, and using a secret teleportation circle in the alley behind Jacobson’s Printing, arrived in a long hallway illuminated by magical lights, leading to a one way mirror. A man’s voice greeted him on the other side and agreed to make a copy of the invitation by Tarsakh 21 for 100 gp. Vuutharak and Faridoon agreed, and asked for the name on the invitation to be “Atraus Sunleaf” and “Dynff” will be picking it up. The two returned to the Raven’s Tongue to bed down for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Dynff returned to the room explaining that he was running a few personal errands. Vuutharak and Faridoon had proven to be very useful and explained, what they thought to be, the best plan for getting into the festival.

Using a scroll Vuutharak was given some months ago, Dynff would transform himself into a Sunelf with Faridoon as his body guard. Vuutharak would sneak into a room in Aldonmir’s Manor, and using some ploy they would lure the Senator into the room, poison him and strangle him with a garrot. They had the invitation and the scroll, now all they needed was the poison and the garrot.

Proving their usefulness, Dynff agreed to send a message to his superiors recommending Faridoon and Vuutharak for possible services. He traveled to his contact in the area, Rondell Riverstone at his business, a jewelry store called the Waterstar.

Faridoon, went and visited his reacquainted friend Jack “The Feather” at Concreto’s hoping he could get some more information about the Mechanex Faction. After a few drinks, Jack divulged all he knew, which wasn’t too much more than the group already had discovered. Afterward he purchased a simple garrot in the Midmarket.

Vuutharak set out to find a herbalist shop called the Withering Leaf, located near the wall between the Crescent Downs and the Upper Docks. He found it without much difficulty, using a pseudonym pretended to be inquiring about some “poison to paralyze vermin for his elderly pet snake”. He discovered quickly the shop to be well versed in the illegal business of poison selling. Vuutharak conducted most of his business with a raspy voiced, seemingly elderly humanoid by the name of Pox. Unable to pay for the poison he requested, Vuutharak agreed to do Pox a “favor” and was told to return on Tarsakh 29.

The three meet again at the Raven’s Tongue, now with all the pieces to the puzzle, except for one: it turned out that Dynff lacked the skill to use Vuutharak’s scroll and they would need to switch roles. To ensure that Dynff could get the best shot he could at the Senator, he investigated using magical means. The result: a recommendation from Rondel to speak with Beltha’zar Tha’zi at the Black Ink, northwest of the Midmarket.

There, Beltha’zar using his magical abilities inscribed in Dynff’s arm a magical tattoo with the spell in exchange for one of the three scrolls of Alter Self Vuutharak possessed.

Finally, in preparation for any possible problems following the job, the three checked out of the Raven’s Tongue, and head over to a less “upscale” inn, called the Crow’s Roost, northwest of the Midmarket, in the grimy heart of the Crescent Downs. On the eve of Tarsakh 26, with all their preparations set, Dynff, Vuutharak and Faridoon patiently awaited for their coming evening of blood.

Whispers in the Night

18 Tarsakh 1373

Vuutharak, Faridoon and Dynff awoke in their windowless room, in the Raven’s Tongue, still sore and filthy from their evening of running the sewers. They ordered a change of clothes from the kitchen boy and a hot bath. After refreshing up, they began their business.

Vuutharak made clear that he would require his outstanding payment for running Faridoon under the walls, a fee Dynff was responsible for. He made note he had no good reason to continue to work with them – until Dynff offered him the prospect of building a reputation and life outside of the sewers in the Upper Docks, and proposed giving them both a favorable recommendation to his superiors in the Hangmen.

After their short order of business, Dynff departed on personal business, hoping to find out what he could about Senator Olis Samreich. Unfortunately without any contacts in the Crescent Downs or a plan, he spent two days, largely in vain, learning only a few trivial and commonplace facts about House Samreich and the Mechanex Faction.

Vuutharak and Faridoon, went off together to see if they could prove themselves as invaluable to Dynff – better securing their payments and recommendations. First, since Faridoon had just recently worked in the service of the senator, he wondered if he could get any information or maybe even some work from his former employer, Captain Steelboot, Senator Olis Samreich’s long term personal guard. They headed off to the Midmarket to look for the last location Faridoon knew that the senator was staying at. With luck, they found the manor just before sundown. While Vuutharak waited out of sight, blending into the crowded streets, Faridoon requested an audience with his former employer. Cpt. Steelboot spoke with Faridoon briefly outside the manor, stating that while the senator stayed at this manor, the manor of Senator Altdonmir, a loyal member of House Samreich, there wouldn’t be a need for his help. Somewhat defeated, the two headed off to a nearby café to find the latest edition of the Fogdown Herald, for any more leads.

As Vuutharak paged through the newspaper, Faridoon was surprised to hear someone from the crowd calling out his name. On guard he looked around, attempting to spot where it was coming from. He stepped a few feet away from Vuutharak and saw a well dressed human with a lute over his shoulder waving to him. It turned out it was an old friend of his, Jack Daleman, who had been in the same gang as Faridoon in his youth. Much like Faridoon, Jack had not gone with the rest of the gang the night things went bad. He didn’t know of anyone one else that had survived that night, except for Tommy “Black Arms”, who works as an informant for the Thousand Hands. Jack, who went by Jack “The Feather” now, explained he was always talented with a lute, and made a life as a Windsong pieceman. Faridoon asked to keep his return to the island a secret, and Jack agreed as a favor for an “old friend”. As Jack left, he told Fairdoon to come see him sometime at Concreto’s if he was ever in need of any information.

When Faridoon returned, Vuutharak had finished looking at the paper, and had a few ideas about how to proceed: Given the nature of the festival and the party, they should try and get a hold of an invitation and disguise themselves. Using what info they got from the Fogdown Herald, they decided to track down Etinee Blackmire, a socialite knowledgeable about Fogdown’s houses and the owner of an art gallery on Burrow’s Street. By the time they returned to the Raven’s Tongue though, it was well past sunset. They decided to turn in for the night after a hearty meal, and seek out Etinee in the morning. Dynff had not returned yet.

Later that night, Faridoon had awoken with a start. The candle they used for light must have been left burning and he smelled smoke. As he looked around the room Vuutharak was nowhere to be found, and he spotted the candle lying on its side in the middle of the room. When he went to grab it fire rapidly spread around him engulfing the room at an unnatural speed. Suddenly he was fully dressed, with mace in hand and fire burning all around him, and despite the fact that he realized he was dreaming he could not awaken. The fire was now complete surrounding him, as if he was standing in the center of an enormous orb of fire. Looking down he saw blood begin to pool at his feet. He began to step back, and as he did so, his boot prints left trails of blood that followed him. Suddenly a mass began to grow out of the pool of blood and he could hear his name being called out in a booming, distant voice. Startled he moved back away from the growing pool of blood. As he watched and backed away, the mass began to take form, turning into a towering demonic figure! It slowly began to walk towards him at a speed faster then he could move away. Growing increasingly angry, Faridoon stood his ground and demanded the creature’s name. As the huge figure loomed above him it boomed: My name is Asb’el!

Suddenly he awoke – it had only been a dream. Faridoon finished the night at the tavern on the first floor…