Session 10
General Summary
With no time to lose, Nex Pervenio charged into the portal room, their advance covered by a
volley of arrows from Dash. From the Abyss, Lareth howled with fury at his hated foes and
commanded his minions to destroy them. Hordes of fiery demons swarmed all over the gladiators,
setting alight all in their path. The already unstable Abyssal Gate shuddered yet further as Lareth
manipulated it to send blasts of abyssal energy into the fray. The whole building was shaking
continuously by this stage. Dash took out the cult lieutenant while his comrades fended off the
demons, struggling with their mobility. Yet steadily the number of demons dwindled. Lareth
hurled one final threat before the Abyssal Gate closed with a crash, sending a shockwave through
the lowest tier of Maelbrathyr. Ominous creaking and rumbling noises convinced the gladiators
the time had come to depart. They gathered up their prisoner, valuable documents and other loot
and fled. Just as they were climbing up to Maelbrathyr�s third tier there came a horrendous crack
and most of the fourth tier collapsed down a 1000� crevasse, the shape of the city altered forever.
The Seared One cyclops was visited yet again. He inspected the hot, fuming cauldron and
identified it as �abyssal fire�, a substance collected from the Abyss itself. A deal was struck for
10,000 gold.
The cult lieutenant was questioned. Despite his hostile nature, a lot of information was coaxed out
of him before he was put out of his misery. Much of the base, both personnel and supplies, had
been evacuated through the portal to join Lareth in the Abyss. Lareth was hard at work redirecting
the abyssal leylines so as to open a similar portal �somewhere on the surface� (most likely
Londinium, given the maps and blueprints). But this is neither a speedy nor precise process.
He�d been told to report on Lareth�s progress to cult superiors. This would have involved him
travelling to Erelhei-Cinlu and waiting for a cult operative to make contact.
Shinobi visited Baelina, thanked her for assistance and told her she might find Bael at the Temple
of Erathis in Londinum. She declined the option to join in travelling as it would also include
dwarfs and a stop in Forgehome.
After delaying a couple of days in Maelbrathyr while Bugman and the other dwarf traders
concluded their business, on 16 April it was time to begin the long journey home. It was a large
and varied group � Nex Pervenio, the Scorpions with a prisoner, Bugman, dwarf traders and their
guards and servants. There was safety in numbers and the journey passed without incident.
A couple of days were spent in Forgehome, marred only by news of an unexplained murder* in
what was usually considered a haven of safety in the dangerous Underdark, around the time it was
a new moon on the surface. Bugman bid farewell and remained in Forgehome with much business
to attend to.
The journey to the surface continued, now only Nex Pervenio and the Scorpions yet still a safe
enough trip. Upon reaching the surface, the Scorpions went their separate way � their first duty
was to their Shogun, to return their prisoner and try to uncover the evil plot. They promised to
later return to Londinium.
Nex Pervenio headed south down the road from Hommlet. They�d been underground for 6 weeks
or so. They now very much appreciated the sunlight, the weather, the smells and the space.
Sister Valerius was visited immediately upon arrival in Londinium on 16 May. She was overjoyed
to see all back safe and sound. She was provided with a fairly thorough report, omitting Baelina
and the Scorpions� destination. She was concerned that the cult had so much information on
Londinium. The city guard would begin regular inspections of the sewers and around the city,
alert for any suspicious activity or indeed any tremors. The papers containing Calindrill�s
research were of interest but would need careful study and analysis by better qualified staff.
Riya delivered the alchemical reagents to Sister Florens.
And then there was the big news � Rodin City would be hosting the Imperial Gladiator
championship, with 16 teams from across the Empire taking part. First prize was freedom from
slavery! For this tournament, the team size had increased from 5 to 6, fortunately Riya was happy
to join forces for this as Nex Pervenio had been selected as Londinium�s representatives. They
had also been selected for a great honour, to be part of a special exhibition match � Wilfred
Fizzlebang, a famous gnome demonologist, would summon and bind a spectacular demon for
them to fight.
There then followed some long overdue time for rest and relaxation, plus some shopping and
training for what lay ahead. Oh and another unexplained murder* around the time of the new
moon�
Transport would be provided to Rodin City, luxurious as befitted champions such as themselves,
departing 1 June to arrive in Rodin City for a few days sightseeing before the tournament on 21
June.
When in the city of Forgehome, Shinobi spent a little time on his own, as is his habit. Whilst
away from everyone else he scoped out Franz Bugman's home and its security. Franz was the
dwarf who set the charges to destory Lareth's first arcane gate in the Temple of Elemental Evil.
Shinobi held no particular grudge against this dwarf but his last assassination had almost been
revenge for a comrade in arms when he killed the innkeeper Dale, so this one was to be purely to
sate the desires of his extremely evil god, Zehir, and perhaps to cause a little mayhem in the
Underdark.
Franz Bugman had a small lodgings in Forgehome, attached to his mining and explosives
business. Security was good - he was a dwarf after all - but nothing that the now accomplished
assassin could not deal with. The night before Nex Pervenio were due to leave Forgehome for the
surface, Shinobi broke into the lodgings and made his way to the dwarf's bedroom where he slept.
First he applied a good dose of drow sleeping posion he had found on the emmissary who had
been in discusion with the Scorpion traitor. Applied in the right way, this 'sleeping' poison didn't
so much cause a sleeping state but total paralysis. The pain of the cut which applied it was enough
to wake Franz but he was instantly paralyzed and unable to do anything other than watch and
listen to his assassin.
Shinobi apologized for doing this to him but said it was necessary to promote the goals of his god,
Zehir, Lord of Murder and Poisons. He applied different poison to the dagger and slit Bugman's
wrists with it, but not deep enough to kill him quickly. The black widow venom would do that
before he bled out. Shinobi bowed to the fading dwarf and slipped out of his lodgings.
The assassin knew that the dwarven healers would recognise the sleeping poison and the black
widow venom as typical drow poisons. It would just add some extra fear to the lives of the
dwarves if they thought they had drow assassins slipping into their city. And his cover was solid -
Franz Bugman had been saved by the party when he'd nearly died in the Temple of Elemental Evil
the party paying for the expensive ritual to restore him to health. No one would suspect one of
them to have killed him in cold blood for no obvious reason.
Zehir would be pleased he felt.
It would soon be time to travel to Rodin city, capital of the Empire of Rodinia, one of the biggest
and most impressive cities in the entire World of Rodinia. There Shinobi was to fight to gain his
freedom, although he couldn't help but feel that the gladiator school couldn't hold this
Ghostwalker against his will anymore if he really wanted to be free. But this was a chance to
achieve something with his time in Rodinia, the land of the southern 'barbarians' (who he had
come to realise were nothing like as barbaric as his countrymen believed) and also to do some
further reconnaisance into the lands he was sure his Emperor would someday come to invade and
rule.
The night of the New Moon arrived and Shinobi set out to perform his regular sacrifice to Zehir.
He headed out into the city as he had many times before, his ninja gear stuffed into a small satchel
slung over his shoulder. This time rather than heading for the roof tops as was usually his move,
he dropped into a nearby sewer. There he quickly slipped into his black garb, covered head to toe
in the colours of the night. He moved quickly and silently as a shadow through the sewers.
The sewers were full of city guards this night and Shinobi was partially the reason for that. Him
and his team had discovered plans for an attack by evil cultists on the sewers. Shinobi had seen
and studied the plans. He had been involved in the discussions with the City Watch Captain where
the plan to search the sewers had been set out. He knew where the guards would be and what they
would be looking for.
Quickly Shinobi was able to find and take out a lone watchman. He dragged his unconsciouus
body into the shadows and stripped him of his gear, hiding the unconscious body in a corner. He
slipped on the watchman's gear disguising himself as one of them. Then he made his way to near
where the Captain of the Watch was working. He went to each of the sergeants in the vicinity and
gave them false orders from the Captain, moving them away from where the Captain was based,
slowly erasing any nearby help the Captain of the Watch had.
Once he knew the Captain was isolated and far from help other than those immediately around
him, Shinobi slipped back into his assassin's gear, all garbed in black. He called out for help as if
in distress and as the Captain sent watchmen to find out what was up, he took them out, striking
from the shadows, with the watchmen completely unaware of what had hit them. He was careful
not to kill any and that he was not seen other than perhaps as a black shadow. Finally, the Captain
was alone. He was calling out for his sergeants but they were too far to hear him.
Shinobi turned him over and offered him up to Zehir, sacrificing the man who was organizing the
defense of the city to his evil deity. Smiling a grim smile to himself he slipped back through the
sewers to an entrance he knew came out near the public baths. He broke into the baths and cleaned
himself up quickly, getting back into his civilian clothes. Then he wandered back to the gladiator
school where he went for his usual sake in the Dying Minotaur inn.
That would make for an interesting twist to the cultists plans to invade Londinium.
Report Date
11 Apr 2024
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