Hello everyone.

Pretty soon, I'm going to leave on a trip to my distant relatives, and won't be back before the 5th, so I've been desperate to finish this chapter and possibly start or at least plan out the next one before I leave. And here it is - chapter XV in it's full form!

I've introduced a certain variant rule of D&D in this chapter, though you do not need to learn or know much about it - there will be some explaining in the incoming chapters. It's still a bit depressingly far from my favorite part, but I think I might just make it in time. Maybe I'll start with making the chapters slightly shorter - this one has almost 27 600 words in it, so it comes to no surprise they take so much to write :P

Enjoy, R&R !


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Chapter XV
Into the Darkness, One Step At a Time

The Outer Planes are a vast place. Some planar travelers spend much of their lives exploring just one single Outer Plane and never get to see it all, especially in the so-called Lower Planes, where most mortals that attempt to visit lose their lives, souls, sanity, or all of the above.
There is a particular conflict in the Lower Planes that is of great importance to the universe at large. The Blood War. Many believe that if not for the Blood War, the forces of evil would have too much power to be truly stopped, even if they weren’t united.
That’s why even some mortals and celestials invest their time in the Blood War, whether to support the side that is closer to their ethical mentality or just to try and make the conflict even more burned up.
Some mortals just do it for money or other prizes.
What was important to the universe at large , namely the Blood War, held very little significance to a certain warlock trained in Neverwinter. His destiny was closely intertwined with planar conflicts of different kinds and related to different planes, but even he put some effort in the Blood War during the course of his life.
And despite all his hopes that it wouldn’t be so, even Maenaz was put through pain, worry and anguish due to his involvement in it.

Maenaz fell upon his bed, depressed, disillusioned. He put his stretched-out hand in the air before him, and carefully studied it. He then touched his palm with his other hand, taking in the sensation as well as the visual picture of touch.
It appeared that the inevitable was getting closer and closer. He would lose his sight. He didn’t know whether it would be in two uses of magical darkness by the enemy or in twenty two, but eventually, his vision would be so obscured it wouldn’t matter if he is actually blind or still sees anything.
And he learned too little still to have any hope of stopping the process, not to mention reversing it.
His mind was still a bit hazy from the battle. Oh, how stupid he was. He should have known battles between demonic and devil forces would involve a LOT of darkness. And yet he screwed up. At least they’ve won, and he survived. And it was just a Blood War “Skirmish”. Word was real battles could drag out for years.
He really did not want to find out. He was simply human, not an elf with a hundred of years to spent on irrelevant bullshit.
Well, of course, someone might think he was more than human, because of his warlock powers. But as far as he knew, he had no supernatural bloodline and all other bloodlines were so irrelevant that he was nearly 100% human.
Well, except the elven one. This one might have granted him a pretty rare talent he never explored. Could anyone blame him? He was a natural warlock. It was obvious he would take advantage of that first and foremost.

His life was getting weird again. He came to conclusion that he couldn’t understand women at all, his race or not. He had a female devil make a pass at him, and then a lamia noble accusing the said devil of absolute nymphomania decided he was lost and hopeless just because a NYMPHOMANIAC DEVIL took an interest in him. Why couldn’t he make normal working or friendly relationship with women?
He missed Sharwyn. At least she understood him.
But this was no time to continue pondering his miserable existence. He would soon learn more about his enemies and his former friends, and then maybe about his stupid eye condition.
And he would take revenge on Neverwinter, blind or not. After all, he had a soul to sell, and he could probably get most of what he wanted for it.
Including probably getting his eyesight back, if neccessary.
Still, he had to go through the deal with Samael to the end if he wanted revenge on Neverwinter. He couldn’t do it alone, and who if not an ancient archdevil with a group of yuan-ti worshippers and armies of devils and Yugoloths alike can make it possible for him?

Someone knocked on the door, and he got up from the bed. Malacoda? No, she did not want to have anything to do with him anymore. But, who, then?
He opened the door and did not notice anyone on his eye level, which only meant one thing, given it was unlikely anybody wanted to play pranks here.
He looked a bit down, finding the seemingly teenage yuan-ti easily, the look on her face betraying her irritation and general displeasure that she had to meet him again.
- Maenaz Carn’Renor.
- Sinnesia. What is it?
- Since you’re back, you are supposed to meet Morax near Master’s chamber. Also, Lord Samael asks for you to meet him, he says it’s about your deal.
- Of course, I’m going to meet him straight away.

Maenaz grabbed the key to his chambers and got out of them again, wanting to close them, and then realizing that the girl was not so far away at all.
Of course, there weren’t many reasons why she wouldn’t move, and wait for him to turn his back to her.
Oh, but he wasn’t going to let her do that.
Maenaz rapidly turned around, his blast aimed flawlessly as it crashed with hers, the twin energies struggling against each other in the air for a moment before Maenaz’s eldritch blast completely overpowered Sinnesia’s, still retaining most of it’s strength even after that. It tore through her blast and then, the slightly weakened force of the blast hit her, sending her against the wall.
The wall managed to contain the force of the blast and from the looks of it, the girl was still alive and relatively unbroken as well.
- Are you dumb? What were you trying to accomplish? I didn’t even do anything to you.
- I had to check. I had to test you.
- For who? What for?
- For myself, only. You’re powerful, indeed, though I will grow stronger than you in time. Now I understand why you were chosen. Your fighting instincts are impressive, though.
- Chosen for what?
- You’ll learn in time. For now, unless you’re angry and wish to do real battle, which I’m afraid I could lose, I would like to leave. You can also leave your back unguarded when I am in the vicinity, I have no reason to do this again.
- Why should I let you go?
- It will be costly for both you and the Gate if you kill me.
- You’re just a fucking kid yet!
- You’re wrong. So very wrong. I will surpass you very soon, and then, you will kneel at my feet.
- You just give me more reasons to kill you.
- You couldn’t kill me here, and if you let me go nicely I promise I will be good to you once our roles are reversed.
- You’re confident, kid. But also foolish. Never try to do this again, I won’t have such fits of mercy again.

He finished closing his chamber and walked through her, giving her a passing glance. She stared at him with slightly more grudging respect than hatred, but he still knew he should probably consider her an enemy.
[“But what the fuck was I chosen for ? I dislike the term in and of itself. This usually implies some fucking prophecy, ritual, sect, or whatever and then I must do something inhuman like saving the world. Or maybe I’m just biased because of my time in Neverwinter. Whatever. A little girl can’t do anything. Samael and the Seven are the ones I should be interested in.”]

Pacing through the chambers, Maenaz finally met his first “target”. Morax the Ultroloth was standing there, discussing something with a pair of devils… At least Maenaz thought they were devils. One of them might as well be something else, but it did not appear like other Yugoloths he had seen so far. It was muscular, a hulking figure, and clad in a dark armor that seemed to be grown together with it’s skin and flesh, with a bald head that resembled a human’s, but was far more monstrous, sporting sickly looking, if not rotten through, tusks on the lower jaw. The other creature seemed like a particularly tall and physically fit Cornugon, only it had green scales mixed in with black ones.
Morax nodded to him and he awaited patiently, obviously unable to follow the conversation due to its mental nature. After a moment, Morax send the two tall fiend warriors away, and turned his attention to the warlock.
- Welcome. Apparently my message for you became something of a chain, as I was informed, yet ultimately, here you are, though a bit later than I would prefer you to be. I had to do some work without moving from here because of it.
- Who were these fiends?
- Two of our four chief battle force commanders.
- They were devils, right?
- Indeed. An orthon, though a very special one, and a cornugon. You catch on quickly.
- I take it two other commanders are yugoloths?
- One of them is a Nycaloth. These are the greater Yugoloths with usually green skin and four muscular hands.
- I saw a couple of them. I’ll still have to learn something about the Yugoloths, though. And the fourth one?
- The fourth one is an absolutely different kind of creature, though mortals would say it’s a fiend in all but name. You’ll never get a chance to meet the fourth commander, or at least it is nearly impossible that you will, so you don’t need to know anything about that person.
- Person? He is mortal?
- It… Is far more human than me, probably, but still miles away from what you would consider a related race. And no, it’s not a creature that lives in the Prime Material Plane.
- You’re not going to tell me because it’s supposed to be a secret, right? Like some other things in the Gate.
- Yes, though you’ll probably keep learning more if you manage to earn anyone’s individual trust here. I have quite high expectations of you, since you came back from leading our mercenary force almost unscarred.
- I can regenerate. I’m sure some if not most of you are capable of this as well.
- And yet, most mortals do not survive Blood War skirmishes, not to mention real battles. I’m a bit impressed.
- We’re not here to discuss my greatness, are we?

The more Maenaz talked with the ultroloth, the more he was sure the fiend's attitude and disposition were changng. He could swear at one moment Morax was close to smiling. He could feel it. Has he really made an impression?
- No, warlock, we are not. I will now provide you with the information you desired, and then, you will go and meet Master Samael. There are a couple of things you must discuss with him.
- Fine, then. What did you learn?
- This Xardas of the Crossroad Keep… He left to a place called Hilltop to teach young adventurers their trade. At some point in time, he left with them on a mission, and his co-mentor of those adventurers, himself, and one of his pupils never returned. The two other ones apparently left some time ago, both deciding to stop their apprenticeship and doing their own trade. As for Xardas himself… all trace of him was lost after he visited a certain village in the Anauroch desert that used to worship Ao, but fell apart soon after due to a belief crisis. It is possible Xardas is dead, gone beyond the Desert, or left Material Plane.
- This is excellent. The longer he stays out of my way, the better. Any information on his companions?
- Indeed. It is known he always traveled with a group of about ten people, and somewhere along his travels, he gained control of a rather unique golem that displayed the potential to grow stronger. I believe he lost the golem – there were no signs of it in the Crossroad Keep. As for his companions, they seem to be relatively scattered, most of them no longer involved with Neverwinter or the Crossroad Keep. The one that did, called…
- Casavir. I killed him myself. Anything else ?
- Yes. To my knowledge, through one of his companions, he considers the dwarves of Ironfist to be his allies, and this isn’t to be overlooked. It is known some of his companions died during their travels, and the group was lesser after defeating this so-called King of Shadows. As for the members of the group, I know that other than the dwarf, there was also a certain tiefling amongst them, Sand, a powerful elven wizard loyal to Neverwinter who was trained in Luskan, and he was also accompanied by an enigmatic Githzerai I know nothing else about.
- You seem to have quite good sources.
- The best. Human world is currently so corrupted we can infiltrate it on all levels. All it takes is a single pureblood Yuan-Ti, a Tainted One or even a smart human occultist and we can learn almost whatever we wish. A little more time and a little more law-breaking and money or other goods spent, and we can gain much in-depth information. It just works that way with your human settlements.
- Anyway… What about my former companions? What did you learn about them?
- Boddyknock Glinckle apparently stayed in Neverwinter for a magical research of some kind – it’s not even about an artifact, its, to my knowledge, something food-related.
- Gnomes have some strange relationships with some kinds of vegetables. Apparently, there was once a gnome wizard who’s main concern in life were turnips, and that’s despite his relatively successful… for a gnome… adventuring carrier.
- I don’t really care about the gnome. He did not seem powerful at all, as my agents say.
- I never really got him to follow me around. He’s the least important. What about the others?
- Tomi Undergallows was apparently traveling along the Sword Coast and got caught up in a war between Shadow Thieves and the city guards somewhere in Amn. It seems he is in jail, currently.
- Expected. He had to get caught sooner or later. Knowing Tomi, that won’t stop him for long, but maybe at least he’ll lose all this magical equipment I’ve put on him.
- As for Grimgnaw, apparently, he went to the Planes. My spies received information he was either trying to get to the Fugue Plane and meet Kelemvor or he went to Acheron in order to obtain some sort of artifact – the word and the reports are differing. I’m sorry if it is something important.
- Grimgnaw is sort of important, but I don’t really believe he would stand against me. Apparently, he considers me some sort of an emissary of death, which makes me… Well, let’s say it’s almost as if I were his mentor or liege.
- I understand. You considered him a possible ally. Well, going further…
- Before you finish… Do you think there IS an artifact to find on Acheron? I thought it was mostly a huge battlefield.
- When you think about it, that’s precisely why an artifact would be there.
- Yes, indeed… Some warrior might have dropped it in course of a battle, or maybe it became an artifact due to the many battles… In fact, that’s a pretty good idea.
- I’m afraid we’re not sending you into Acheron too soon. Lord Samael is too much involved into Yugoloth politics right now to use you out there.
- Do Yugoloths have a conflict other than the Blood War to be engaged in?

Morax paused for a moment.
- Toril seems like a fine place to me. Most people know at least a bit about Baatezu and Tanar’ri, yet you, an experienced adventurer, a warlock at that, know practically nothing about us Yugoloths. That seems just like the way most of my brethren would like it to be.
- I take it there is a conflict.
- Yes. There are more than just the three main races of fiends, Maenaz. The devils control Baator practically utterly and all minor fiends that might live there instead relocated to other planes, died out or were pushed by devils to fight in Blood War or were sent to Acheron. Tanar’ri still have not eliminated the ancient Obyriths. Similarly, us Yugoloths have taken control of two out of three “middle” Lower Planes already, and yet, we have to wage a war to take control of the last one.
- You control Gehenna and Hades… That leaves…
- Tarterian Depths of Carceri. Also just called Carceri, Tarterus, or the Red Prison.
- And what exactly are you fighting there? I thought it was a prison plane.
- It is. Yet, there’s been something there before Gods and Celestials started to imprison things on that plane. And that race of beings was created at about the same time we, Yugoloths, were, and from the beginning was our enemy. They’re still alive, but we seem to be winning the war with some ease.
- What race are you talking about?
- Gehreleths, also called demodands. You ought to learn some about their race, as well as ours. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lord Samael decided to send you to Carceri sometime.
- I will do so, then. However, first, we need to finish what we’ve started.
- Ah, yes. Your other companions. Well, Daelan Redtiger was rumoured to go back to Uthgard with Linu La’Neral, but they’re supposed to return soon. Lastly…
- Sharwyn. The bard.
- Yes. I know nothing about her. She’s not in Neverwinter, and all track of her was lost after she left Waterdeep with some prize money.
- As long as she won’t return to Neverwinter, it’s okay. Sharwyn is…

He noticed Morax staring at him disturbingly. Of course. He was a high-ranking fiend. It was pointless.
- There’s no need in telling you. So, one last point. What about Neverwinter Nine?
- Ah, yes. Currently, Neverwinter Nine is back to it’s full squad of nine people. As for your question… It appears one you know as Aarin Gend has been accepted to the group recently.

Maenaz stood in place for a moment, before he felt the rush of darkest emotions. He knew Morax could feel that, as well as the power he was starting to emanate. That strange symbol flashed once again on his head, and his eyes were now completely blinded, clouded by his own darkness. He could feel… nothing except for that all-consuming darkness, yet he contained it, managed not to release it in the blast of uttedark energy. He could feel the eyes of nearby fiends over himself as he struggled to keep the dreadful power at bay, a struggle he seemed to be losing.
[“ This bastard… did it after all…”]
- You’re practically oozing hatred. I did not feel it in you when you spoke that name for the first time.
- This Aarin Gend… He was my friend once. When I left Neverwinter, swearing vengeance upon it, I gave him just one demand, one thing NOT to do. That was joining the Neverwinter Nine. He was never to take the spot in this group, never, because that one membership belonged to someone else, someone he should remember, someone whose friend he was supposed to be. Now, that he crossed the line… That he broke my one condition… He deserves nothing else but death, or worse.
- That is all the information you wished for, I believe. Now, Maenaz, you must meet Lord Samael. He will have a mission for you… and an offer.
Maenaz walked past the Ultroloth, ready to meet it’s master.

The warlock stood inside the Archdevils chamber, arms crossed on his chest, waiting. He noticed that the feeling that the Archdevil’s presence was changing him, making him meaner, was almost gone. He felt more and more natural conversing with his new ally… Or maybe his new benefactor?
[“Whatever. Tell me what I need to do. Go ahead, Samael. I know I cannot fall much further, so let’s just get on with it. I need them dead. All of them.”]

- You’re pretty hateful today. Good.
- There you go again, being glad for no reason.
- Is it for no reason? Do you think so?
- You want me to feel hate. I’m developing like you wanted me to, right?
- Almost. There are a few points that will need to be obtained, though.
- Like what?
- You need to feel real vengeance, while your spite is at its peak, and then you will understand what you really want. And soon, this may happen.
- What… do you mean?
- By the time you’re done with this mission… I will have a member of Neverwinter Nine lured out of the city. And guess who will be there to kill him?

Maenaz grinned. Yes, this might yet prove to finally be the right deal for him.
- Go ahead. Tell me what to do. It’s as good as finished.
- You’re forgetting something.
- Ah… Yes. My soul.
- Indeed, we need to set the rules under which your soul will become my property. It may happen under only two circumstances – first is in case if you die as my true believer, the other in the event that we fulfill a contract. The first case is clear, the second one neads to be negotiated. I consider your soul pretty worthy, so this will be how we do it : I will grant you three wishes with the ability I once told you about. I will not corrupt those wishes, nor make them unprofitable to you in any way. After I grant your third wish, you will be allowed to live for a certain time before I claim your soul.
- What time are we talking about?
- Well, in Hell, it would usually be nine years, or in rare cases, a number related to the Lord’s level of Hell, the number “nine” that encompassess all of Baator, or both.
- I do not believe I deserve a “Standard deal”. Three wishes and nine years of life afterwards sound like a common deal.
- Oh? Not many manage to bring the attention of an archdevil to their soul. Even less people actually get those mythical three wishes.
- No, Samael. That won’t to. I want five wishes, and my soul will be yours only if I kill at least nine people belonging to the Neverwinter Nine in the meantime. The amount of time I will live afterwards is negotiable.
- That’s quite a price for one’s soul.
- Maybe. I value myself high.
- Oh really? I think you’re simply trying to outsmart me. You’d never use up five wishes. You’re too smart and resourceful to waste five wishes just on Neverwinter.
- Make it four, then.
- Maenaz, I need to have an actual chance of obtaining your soul that way, you understand? And I actually said I will not corrupt those wishes in ANY way. You get what you ask for, hell, I even may be kind when granting those wishes and give you a little extra. This is rare.
- And what if I think this is not enough?
- You’re a hard negotiator, are you not?
- Perhaps, but I do not intend to simply…
- And you think this is wise ?

Maenaz quickly noticed the fiend was looking at him slightly differently now. Of course. He was in a losing position. It only made sense that Samael would look like a predator confident he caught his prey.
- I… just don’t want to sell myself cheaply.
- Tell you what… I’ll sweeten the deal, but another wish, and one I won’t cheat with at all, is a bit too much. Your soul will become my possesion under these conditions : You will use up all three wishes, and die with at least four members of the Neverwinter Nine killed by you. If you don’t die by a natural cause, you will have 21 years of life left after either making the last wish or killing the fourth member of Neverwinter Nine, whichever is later. Moreover, your weapon will be enchanted by my one of the Nefarious Seven, and you will receive two private lessons with me as a mentor, that will either increase your ability or allow you to attain power through some measure. Are these term acceptable ?
- Yes, they are.
- Very well then. We shall sign the contract now.
- If I may ask… what do you intend to do with my soul if you obtain it through this contract?
- Ah… We fiends can use human souls as a source of power. We can use them to craft weapons, or, in case of devils, advance other of our kind in form and power. The process of giving one the power of a Duke of Hell also involves the sacrifice of either soul, life essence, or both. For example, this fearsome blade here – Samael paused as he slowly weighted Maleficus meaningfully in his hand - was crafted with the use of three very powerful souls tha have been obtained through such contracts, not to mention certain… other mortal sacrifices. The last options are… unpleasant. Sometimes, souls are changed into larvae and either become Blood War cannon fodder or are used by fiends in rituals. Some involve consuming said soul, like the Archdevils and Demon Princes at times do, and some are a way to reproduce, like the Night Hags using larvae in some secret process to make more of their kind. Still, your fate in such a case is undecided.
- You mean… you can consume my soul? Completely erase me from existence through a ritual?
- It is unlikely. You see, it is important to a fiend that the soul he consumes or uses is of a relatively high quality, but at times, a soul is too powerful to consume. It is quite possible that by the time you’re dead and I could obtain your soul, you would be too powerful for me to do so, despite me being an archdevil and all.
- I see…
- So, will you sign the contract? I usually stick to verbal agreement, but I do want everything to be clear in the matter of your soul.
- Fine. I will sign it, no more questions.
- Very well. Wait here for few minutes.

Indeed, after a few minutes, Samael returned, carrying with himself… about a half of a fiend’s wing. He was molding and stretching and rolling it as he walked, and soon after, the wing indeed seemed like if it was a scroll.
Maenaz was a bit stunned.
- Did you… just rip it off?
- Indeed. It is a rather special contract, so I’d prefer if it were signed on a scroll made from fiendish skin. Such contracts are easier to locate in case one of the sides tries to break them… Not to mention, they look far more flashy. So…

The wing in the archdevil’s hands started to burn with arcane fire for a moment, taking on a bleak, grey color before Samael summoned his mental blade and started to write on the wing-scroll. It seemed… Macabre.
- This is going to be written in two languages… A custom. So, first part is in the Infernal Tongue, which you may not know, but it would be a good idea to learn it… and the second will be in the prime language of the contracted. I suppose you still prefer it to be in Common rather than Drow?
- Yes, I do. You seem to have taken to the idea of me somehow becoming a Drow or partially so.
- Maybe I am overestimating the changes in your mentality if you do not think of yourself as Drow one bit. Very well then, so shall it be.

Samael finished with the contract, the “scroll” of devil (or maybe yugoloth?) skin now almost completely filled up, one part being written in Infernal, which Maenaz barely knew, and the other in his own language. Samael did not even have to tell him to read it, he studied it carefully. Everything was just as the fiend said.
Maenaz knew he was probably getting the worse end of the stick, but truth be told, he only needed the contract to ensure that his soul would remain his property until he willed otherwise. He fully intended to avoid using up a single wish – he wanted to have one in case he went blind, in order to restore his eyesight, and if he cured his condition, in order to wreak further vengeance upon Neverwinter… If he used one wish to do it, the only way he would use a second one was under extremely dire circumstances, where no other method would suffice. And that way, the third wish would forever remain untouched, nothing but a mention on a contract.
- So, is everything to your liking? I’d rather not negotiate this thing any longer. I doubt you even consider using up does wishes.
- Indeed, it would take quite the circumstances for me to use up all three of them. I’ll sign it for the weapon, though.
- Though so.

Samael took the scroll from him and stabbed his own left hand, dripping blood onto the scroll that formed a name in Infernal. It was more than a single name, however, Maenaz was sure of that, and he quietly wondered whether this archdevil carried any surname, always signed contracts using his name and his title, or had two or three equally true and original names that should be written down in such cases.
However, it did not really matter, as Maenaz took the scroll from him and summoned the tiniest bit of eldritch energy into his finger, burning words “Maenaz Carn’Renor” into it. He then took Enserric out of his sheath and slit his wrist, letting blood fall over the letters, which immediately took on a slightly different shape and a lively, blood red color.
Maenaz felt strange, like if a thousand tiny needles stabbed his soul and mind at once, and felt a new purpose sink deep into the receses of his soul, realizing he felt that way once before.
When Halaster cast a Geas on him.
He eyed the contract slightly angrily for a moment before realizing that this “purpose” was suddenly gone, leaving behind only a void that he needed to somehow fill up, the only difference before and after signing the contract being he felt slightly more empty… and condemned to a grim fate.
Nothing he was unused to.
- Very well, now that we have this minor hindrance out of the way, I suppose you are ready to go through with out original agreement.
- Yes. I am, in fact, eager to go through with it. Tell me what do you expect of me, Lord of the Gate.
- Fine, then. This mission is somewhat… delicate. It will require a little bit of negotiation, but also some power and arcane knowledge on your part. Are you up for it?
- Yes. I’ve been required to use a little persuasion in the past, and it’s not like I am going to start smashing things whenever I see a fiend now.
- Then you’re getting the job. The issue is about matters quite old now, if not as old as one may think. Did you hear of Iyachtu Xvim?
- He was a son of Bane, whose life was forfeit in order to bring about his father’s return. I don’t know the details.
- Exactly. However, Xvim was more than just a half-god bastard with fiendish blood, he was also an actual deity for a time. And during this time, he had his own cult, his own clerics and divine agents… Most of these converted either back to Bane or Cyric when Xvim died, no matter how bonded they previously were to their old master. A few chose different deities, but your next target is a special case.
- What do you mean?
- Well, you do remember that when we arrived here, I was informed that my highest priest, Acanthophis, who was also a member of the Nefarious Seven, was killed by Fenexia. Well, this leaves me without the head of my cult, and while there are some pretty powerful, high-ranking priests in it, no one quite measures up to the role. And of course, getting a new priest out of nowhere is rather hard… But not impossible. For some time, I had my eyes set for a few possible new servants in your world, but there was no immediate need nor possibility to recruit any of them. One of these, I think, would be nearly perfect for the role of my high priest, and as such, I’ve decided to act.
- So, where’s the catch ? And what does Xvim has to do with any of this?
- You see, when Xvim was just a newborn as a deity and his church was still very small, through a certain ritual inherited from his father Bane, he changed a certain powerful and exceptional being into something far more suited to being a true believer of his. Cerastes, a water naga of considerable potential for power, was changed in a ritual developed by Bane and his servants into a mutant often called a Banelar Naga, only this particular one was created by Xvimites to serve their God. It did so, and with great success, soon becoming perhaps Xvim’s most powerful servant. And this was the issue. Xvim was never meant to survive and develop into even a mediocre God, he was just Bane’s means of return, a vessel for his father’s return. When he returned, many of his former servants also returned to him, including nearly all of Xvim’s worshippers. But not Cerastes, no. He felt no attachment at all for his former master’s father and decided to instead become free. While still retaining some of his powers, a lack of a deity to worship ultimately brought Cerastes to a rather grim fate, as nearly immediately after Bane’s return, he became target of his former kind – quite some of the Water Nagas view Banelars as nothing else but abominations, and they managed to track Cerastes down, capture him, and then seal him away for years. Your mission is to kill his guardians, release him from his prison and then convince him to instead become my servant, as Cerastes still holds potential for the great power he once had as Xvim’s high priest.
- If this naga strongly disagrees with that option… Should I kill him, or bring him here by force?
- Do not kill him. It would be too much of a waste to destroy him just because *you* weren’t able to convince him to serve me.
- Fine, then. Am I to understand that I will be doing this alone?
- No, anything but that. I’m almost certain it will take more than one person to accomplish this – even if you were able to kill all the guardians by yourself, it would be very difficult to remove all the seals by yourself. You should probably take at least one specialist at divine magic and one specialist at arcane magic with yourself, though taking someone to do the physical labour might not be a bad idea either. Therefore, I’ll be sending one of my higher-ranking clerics, Nassirah, with you. Also, since you’ll probably be taking someone with arcane powers anyway, I’d suggest Malacoda. She’d probably be able to handle her way through both the fighting and…
- I don’t think it’s such a good idea.
- Why not?
- It appears your Lamia worshipper is somewhat… dissapointed with me because of a thing I have no influence on at all. I’m not sure if I should push her into working with me.
- She’ll do it if I order, no, even ask her to.
- Yes, I know. She said it’s in “her blood”. Anyway, I’d rather not take her if she doesn’t want anything to do with me.

Samael just nodded.
- Fine, then. You can take anyone else, really. Of course, with some consideration as to their station. I might lend you Gizarakor since he can hack and batter his way through everything and even knows a bit about arcane magic, but…
- Euryale would give us quite a scene if we take away her little ritual orgy guard, wouldn’t she?
- Oh, so you DID find out about that.
- My only wonder is how, and why, the hell do you put up with that.
- Euryale has been around for like forever. She’s been my Duke of Hell back in Baator, and that was after she developed her… interests. I don’t really care as long as she does her duties.
- So, Euryale IS a devil? All the stranger her behavior is.
- Oh, having a station in Hell does not equal being a Devil… though it usually is that way, and it is here. Don’t be so stuck up and defensive about this, you just need to learn to work with her.
- I’m not really complaining. Just wondering. Anyway, I have an idea. Remember, back in the Underdark, there was an Osyluth who seemed like a quite high-ranked servant of yours, and he was quite knowledgeable with magic.
- Elamash?
- Yes, that’s his name. I can just take him along.
- So shall it be, then. Visit Veniseria, and ask her to give you a Gate scroll. I’ll make sure Elamash is prepared to go when you use it. Visit Hebiriel before you go, and discuss the enchantments you will want on your sword. Also…
- Yes. The duskblade powers, I know. So, where can I find this Nassirah guy?

Samael grinned.
- She, and I repeat, she, will be waiting for you outside of Hebiriel’s tower when you are done talking to him. I believe she will be able to arrange some means of transportation and… additional firepower… for you.
- All right. I’ll be leaving.
- Maenaz… if you have to sacrifice anyone, let Elamash get killed, not anyone else. There’s a high probability he’ll simply reform in my plane, and you won’t have to work with him again if there are problems.
Maenaz shuddered. So, the mission was hard enough somebody could die… And Samael even immediately thought of a way to make the killing less costly.
- You really sound like a devil.
- Go. You want to kill that Neverwinter Nine as soon as possible, right?
- AND it sounds like you are really starting to learn how to motivate me.
He turned away, passing one last glance at the sword Samael carried.

Three exceptionally powerful souls, huh?
Well, he had no intention of letting his soul become a part of a blade. He carried Enserric, after all, and judging based on all he heard from the souls whose consciousness was RETAINED, it sucked big time.

Walking out of the chamber, he went straight to where he knew he would find these abominable Night Hags.

Trephonia was just talking to their Mistress when the mortal arrived. She was the second most respected hag in the coven, mostly because her powers differed from anyone else rather than having might comparable to their leader.
She turned her single, magical orb of an eye towards the human. He had it inside him, she could tell. This mortal has somehow attained their Lord’s wonderful gift without even asking a quarter of what she had. She begged in her prayers for that small part of her lord’s exquisite “seed” for decades, before she was gifted with it and then finally saw in her dreams she was supposed to come here and take a place amongst the Lord’s own Coven, murdering the whore that dared to occupy the place that was always meant to be hers. And yet, this young human, who probably had less than a tenth of her age, already seemed to develop the master’s gift to the body, and she could feel the tiniest bit of that wonderful mental prize slowly worm it’s way into his mind.
But she could also see he was more than that. He was power, one that was never meant to be what it was, yet through a strange quirk of fate, developed into an essence that was indistinguishable from what warlocks normally received. That small part of it remained what it truly was – something different from anything she has ever seen, but recognizeable as mighty anyway. With that unique essence and the delightfulfulness of her Master’s gift already in his body, as well as a start of it in his mind, the mortal had the potential to become something greater than any mortal in the Gate ever was, maybe something as great as her master’s lover she once dreamt about, but that was currently so far, far away.
She had to *see*. She had to test him… and taste him.

Maenaz finally located Veniseria and was about to walk over to her when suddenly he knew somebody was almost exactly behind him. He was about to turn around when some claw-like hand raked him just at the bottom of his exposed neck, drawing blood. He turned around to see the witch. She was different than all other hags, he could tell. She might even not have been a night hag, but she looked like an old, infernal crone, all right. She was uglier than probably any woman he ever saw, and this ugliness was only magnified by the fact that one of her eyes was covered by an eyepatch and the other eye was completely rotten away, with only an eerie green light in it’s place. The hag has put the fingers that cut him to her mouth and licked them clean, tasting his blood.
[“On all the gods of the Dark Seldarine, she’s about as “sexy” as Morag, if not less so!”]
- Yes, Warlock. I can *see* now.
- What can you *see*, pray tell?
- Your fate. The path of destiny you walk has so far been one that led you to nothing but anger, and sorrow. Now, you’re falling into a dark pit. You will continue to fall, and learn to sacrifice yourself and others through this fall. Only once you willingly go to a place whose all true inhabitants are trapped in, only then, will you find the strength to stop falling and choose your fate. Whether you will want to return to what you once were, or become something greater and more malign that you’ve ever dreamt of… this, I cannot see.
- You’re disturbed. Your visions are highly suggesting you’re taking…
- Your eyes. Your eyes weren’t meant to be human, and so, they’re the ones that are swallowing the dreadful essence inside you, wanting to put their original light out and find a new one in the darkness.
- How do you…
- You’ve been given many gifts in your life, mortal, as miserable and dreadful as it may seem to you now. And I think it’s a one gift more than a normal human could handle. You must learn to embrace what you really are and what you will become, and only then you may achieve the magnificence that Master saw in you. Otherwise, your life will be like that of a mortal, instead of one that only those chosen by the Darkness from birth can have. You do not need to believe my prophecies, Maenaz Carn’renor, because I can feel soon you will be able to make your own ones. The only question is whether you will be able to read them.
- Fine, granny. I’ll wait and experience for myself how well can you “see” things thanks to your drugs, or whatever it is that you’re taking. Now move out of my way, I need to speak to your Mistress.

She took a step to the side as he walked over to Veniseria, who, though being butt-ugly, could be thought of as a soothing sight to his eyes after staring eye-to-eye with the insane witch from moments ago.
- I see Trephonia already spoke to you. She tasted your blood, so she must have wanted to give you a prophecy. This is rare.
- I don’t need an insane old crone’s prophecies.
- Insane? Only if Samael’s gift drove her so. Old ? Yes, but by your standards. Even though the Lord of the Gate lets her use whatever means neccesary to prolong her life, she will end up dead or undead sooner or later. To me, it will be quite soon, but you probably won’t live to see this. Oh, and… The prophecies of Trephonia are always accurate if she tastes the blood of the one whose future she wants to see.
- And Warlock powers always have a source, except for mine. I don’t need her prophecies. I make my own fate.
- Think of what she said as you wish to. Your existence doesn’t mean anything to me, mortal, because my role in this Gate is not only utterly different from yours, it is much greater. Tell me what did you come here for?
- I am to go on a mission in the Prime Material and you’re supposed to supply me with a Gate scroll that will allow me to summon someone from this place.
- And what will I get in return?

Maenaz raised an eyebrow.
- You don’t intend to bargain with someone who comes here on *Lord Samael’s* orders, do you?
- Your arrogance is surprising, mortal. Fine, get the scroll. I hope I’ll get to feast on the larvae your soul will become when you die.
- And I hope you will get food poisoning and die from eating me. That way, the world will be both prettier and safer, two birds killed with one stone.
- Go away. I have more important matters to attend to.
Maenaz turned away with a smirk on his face, which sadly died once he saw the other members of the hag coven.
Truly, he did understand the need of fiends to have *hot* women, like succubi, but who the hell created these, and what for?

Maenaz stood in Hebiriel’s chamber, considering his next words after voicing his decision on an enchantment.
He had been carefully analyzing what sort of power could he use ever since he knew his blade was going to be additionaly enchanted.
He came to a simple conclusion – he could burn things, he could blast people and monsters alike with magical energy, drown them in acid and hack them to pieces, so rather than have Enserric do these things as well, it would be better if the blade used some other sort of energy to damage the enemy. Enserric was already charged with negative energy to be able to draw life force from the target and give it to the wielder, so that was out of question – and that left only two sensible options : electricity and sonic energy.
He already carried an Astral Blade and knew there weren’t so many things that could resist it, but electricity seemed an even more interesting option simply because he was always hit with it and never used it. He would put his bet on electricity, however, before he chose he HAD to ask if there was a way to combine the two. Then, Hebiriel gave him his answer :
- Yes, I can enchant your blade with both lighting and sonic energy, though it won’t be in equal portions. Also, getting everything ready to do so will take some time, so you may go and do whatever you were meant to do.

Maenaz was glad, but stood there, wondering what to say.
The silence was awkward and lasted for a couple of moments. The member of the Seven broke it.
- You may leave now, mortal.
- There’s another thing I wished to discuss.
- What is it?
- I am going to find and release a certain, powerful naga creature from a prison created by those of his kind. Earlier, Samael suggested that… there might be something you would want me to do while on this mission.
- Even if there was, why would you ask?
- It’s because I want you to do your best enchanting my weapon… no, that’s not it, truly. There will be a favor I’d need to ask of you.
- What sort of favor?
- Lord Samael suspects that I have a certain latent power, and you or some texts in your tower may contain knowledge about that power and how to unlock it. I will have to ask you to give me access to that knowledge in return for whatever I do for you.
- Sounds fair. It seems you’re going to be the one sent to release Cerastes, right?
- Yes.
- Cerastes prison was created by naga, to trap a naga. It contains not only him, but maybe other creatures as well. I wish you to tell me about whatever other beings you meet there, as well as recover any scrolls, books, runestones, or tablets the place may contain. Also, in order to release Cerastes, you will need to magically negate arcane seals that trap him.
- Indeed. What about them?
- You need to keep the last one for me.
- But… how? And why?
- You can still release Cerastes, don’t you worry. You’re a Warlock, right? So, you’ll just need to use your ability to devour magic on the seal. It will deactivate it for a moment, during which moment you will have to blast it off the wall, column, or wherever it will be placed and bring the chunk of rock with it to me. If all other seals trapping Cerastes in place are undone by, he will be released anyway. And why? Well, I’ve been recruiting some naga to Lord Samael’s service, though there aren’t many of them, and his yuan-ti servants sometimes bargain with naga lords as well. Therefore, the knowledge contained there will be useful to me. However, there is a certain possibilty that some naga we are connected with may prove… unruly. If I am able to study the method a naga as powerful as Cerastes was sealed with, this won’t be a problem. That’s why I need the seal intact and working.
- Very well. I will do this for you.
- And remember. If you have to fight Cerastes… avoid his sting, and remember he has many spells at his disposal he can use independantly of any other thing he is doing. As a Banelar Naga, he is at least a mediocre mage, but even without Xvim’s power to draw upon, his real power will probably lie in divine spells.
- I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Hebiriel. I will return to you with the seal and items I gather.
- I shall be waiting, Maenaz the Warlock.


Indeed, there was a Yuan-Ti pureblood woman waiting for him when he left Hebiriel’s tower, and he did not waste time in walking closer towards her. She turned to him, a mildly chillful but not antagonistic look in her eyes as she nodded and introduced herself.
- Nassirah, formerly of House Extaminos, a high priestess devoted to the Lord over the Gate of Vipers.
- Maenaz Carn’Renor, formerly of Neverwinter. I take it we shall be working together this time.
- Wrong. You shall be working under me, Scaleless. You have no position in our Master’s cult and are a simple mercenary, so I expect you to do as you’re told.
- I am already doing as I am told by setting to accomplish the mission your Lord gave me.
- Don’t try to be too smart. I know it’s hard on your puny human brain.

Maenaz understood completely. There were a few humans, and quite some elves that saw other races as inferior, but Yuan-Ti saw their race as perfect, all scaly races as ones that should regard them as immediately superior, and scaleless races as slaves at best and lifestock or prey at worst. It was, in fact, a bit difficult to find a Yuan-Ti that did not ACT racist, and nearly impossible to find a Yuan-Ti that wasn’t the least bit racist on the inside.
He figured there was no need to get into conflict with this woman. He couldn’t change her behavior other than by a show of force, and it seemed unnecessary this time around.
So he decided to avoid conflict.
- I can work with your orders just fine, but I hope YOU are smart enough to know when you’re crossing a line.
- Don’t try to intimidate me, human. I could…
- Let’s just get to work instead of continuing this pointless bickering, shall we?
- Yes… I think it’s not such a bad idea. Follow me. We shall be going to a hidden shrine to our Lord through a portal, and our means of transport shall already be there.

She raised and moved away. He took a second to eye her up. She moved with a bit of additional speed and grace compared to a typical human, but while seemingly a bit athletic, her slim figure and rather emaciated body parts would betray her to a someone with a good eye if she cared enough to try and pass as a human. Maybe a very tall elf, yes, but a human? Rather not.
He moved to follow her, seemingly lazily but in truth out of consideration. If she was a typical Yuan-Ti, like she suspected, then for a human her “personal space” would cover a large area indeed. She gave him a bit curious look, obviously wondering whether the human was smart enough to not get too close or was simply lazy and slow.
- What sort of… means of transport were you reffering to?
- Overt curiosity. So typical for a human.
- Just answer the question.
- You do understand, I hope, that due to our natural superiority and his own affinity for all things serpentine, Master Samael usually prefers Yuan-Ti to human servants ?
- Should I try to counter that verbally or is it simply some kind of introduction to a larger idea?
- The second one. Have you seen any dragonlike creatures while in the Gate of Vipers?
- Yes, there has been some.
- Well, then, I suppose it is time to tell you that those weren’t likely true dragons. To best of my knowledge, only two true dragons currently follow our Master and they’re not often here. However, we Yuan-Ti are capable of mutating other races to bring them a step or two closer to our perfection. Tis’ a boon no doubt, but not always so, as it seems. Ssvaklors are results of such experiments. While sometimes simply result of yuan-ti and dragon breeding, just as half-dragon yuan-ti are, but while much of their physique is indeed magnificent, Ssvaklors lost both the incredible capability for mental, magical, and physical growth their dragon side has, and the extraordinary cunning and intellect they should have inherited from their original halfblood yuan-ti sires. The result was that Ssvaklors range in mental prowess from that of an average halfblood all the way down to a mix of human and animal, and what’s worse, those that come from experiments rather than natural breeding nearly always lean towards the bottom side of this variety. Still, they’re useful and gladly participate in our plans, and as such, we use them as allies. I’ve arranged for a certain Ssvaklor aquaintance of mine to carry us both to the place of Cerastes’ imprisonment. Don’t attempt to give him smart retorts, though. His patience is far below mine.
- I see. Probably the reason why you couldn’t arrange two similar means of transport.

She went silent for a moment, and then they reached the portal.
- There was supposed to be a one more member to this group, yet I am unaware as to who was decided to come with us. Are you?
- It’s a devil, Elamash. I have a scroll that will allow us to summon him once we are in our destined location.
- You can use magic scrolls, human? Then maybe you’ll survive against the nagas, if you make yourself invisible.
- Oh, yes. Nagas are inherently superior because they have TAILS, and their SKIN has SCALES. I feel small in the pants already.
- Typical for a human. Poor attempts at sarcasm and over-excited reactions.
- If I blow a naga through a wall, would that be atypical for a human? I really want to hear the verse “such unusual for a human” or “I’ve never thought humans could do that” from you.
- Its far more likely I will see you strangled to death, drowned, or frozen with a spell once we start to fight the nagas.
- We shall see. Let’s just go.

The woman entered the portal first, and he waited for a moment before following her.
[“ On all the lords of Baator, I’ve met some women with pretty bad personalities, but this might be a first!”]

He left through the portal to see himself standing in front of an apparently bloodied altar, only brightened by the pale light of the moon and stars, his Yuan-Ti companion leaning on it as a lizardmen and a human… or seemingly so, as he noticed that his skin was just a tiny bit of an unnatural hue… guided a large, partially armored dragonlike creature with long neck and tail and somewhat slim, for a dragon at least, body. The creature was probably twelve, maybe twelve and a half feet long, but seemed rather light for that size.
- Welcome, Kress’jesk. I am indeed glad you agreed to participate in my mission for Lord Samael.
- And as always, your payment seems… sufficient. But what do I smell, Nassirah? You allow filthy humans to join your ranks now?
- He is but a mercenary. And indeed, he stinks, as most humans do. I’m going to have to ask you to just bear with it for this one mission.
- I’ll endure, though I must say, I do not plan to care for his safety.
- Neither do I, but for whatever reason, Praetor Morax seemed to insist that we take him along as he gave me my orders.
- Let’s go then. I will insist that he takes the back seat, though.
- Of course, Kess’jesk. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

She motioned for him to follow, even though he somewhat grimaced at her utter arrogance and weird comments. It seemed whatever he said or do was wrong, and indeed, saying he “stinks” was probably just another method of overdoing it or a strange instinct of this vile yuan-ti race to react badly to human smell. He slowly walked forward, and noticed that while she was sitting just behind his neck, he was to sit right behind the creature’s wings, where one bad move could stab him on one of small horns that protruded from the beast’s back – and which were the longest just between the wings, mind you. He suddenly felt like a third-class citizen coming to a party for the rich guys and being treated like he deserved only the worst dishes, wine, and curses.
He sat upon the beast and realized that this was probably at best a mediocre spot to be in when the creature landed. Nassirah whispered something to the beast (he imagined it could be something like “try to throw him off”).

Then, the creature took to flight, and he hanged on tightly, watching not to shift too much in his seat. After all, these horns wouldn’t be too pleasant if they stabbed his body. In a moment, his eyes have gotten used to the nightly darkness and to the wind as they flew, and he could see Nassirah’s behind, covered in a light armor with her long black hair spilling over her back. A little more inspection revealed to him that indeed an average elven woman might seem curvy compared to her. While not flat in the chest, she had nothing to be proud of there either, and her hips were almost unnaturally slim if they were to be found on a human woman – logical, as to his knowledge yuan-ti did not give birth to living young, but instead reproduced with eggs. However, from a certain point of view, the woman might seem physically attractive, especially since he always seemed to be attracted to female elves and she had a build that shared a bit with them, but with addition of long legs that, in his mind, were also very welcome. Still, the scaly skin, apparently inhuman bone structure and most so, her incredibly rude attitude were such major turn-offs that despite going on a mission with a woman and being just a little bit starved for attention in that area, he could probably go through this quest without so much as once having a thought of sexual nature.
Unless Cerastes would turn out to look like a tall half elf in black leather with certain bulges on it’s chest, which, considering the name was rather masculine, Samael seemed to regard “it” as a “he” and the creature was a mutated water naga, was rather improbable.
After some time, and it might have been longer than he thought since it seemed like dawn was coming, the Yuan-Ti woman turned slightly towards him, and hissed a bit loudly to make sure he heard her :
- We’re about to land, human! Be prepared for battle, as it is pretty possible this Ssvaklor will start a fight by ramming us into a bunch of naga!

He nodded to show his acknowledgement, and slowly started to gather energy into his right palm. Then, he saw the ground, and knowing the landing might turn out pretty rough, slowly raised from his “saddle” and just before the dragon was on the ground… or in the water, more correctly, as they seemed to be landing in a shallow lake, he propelled himself off it, and before landing, spotted a snake-like shape in the water. Figuring there was no point in not firing at everything snake-like, he immediately sent his blast onto collision course with the creature.
He landed, splashing the water around, and did not even have to look to know he needed to duck in order to avoid some spell.
[“Melph’s Acid Arrow? Might as well just have taken it head-on. Damn, isn’t this dragonlike thing loud.”]

A sound of a released power brought made him twist in the hips and fire another blast against a being that was a couple of metres behind him. He destroyed two magic missiles with his blast, and got hit with the other two. Leaping forward, he cut through the already damaged blue snake-like creature with disturbingly humanlike head.
The ssvaklor roared as the snakelike creatures got closer and closer sliding through the water. He realized something was wrong, as he dodged the apparently poisonous breath of the dragonlike creature in the last moment. It was obviously aimed at the nagas and not him, but it was fired without any regard for his safety whatsoever.
It was the dragon’s next move however that would get him really furious, though he did not know that yet. The cleric in the meantime separated the battlefield into two smaller ones through the use of a Blade Barrier, and then released a wave of negative energy upon the nagas, using a Mass version of some wounds-inflicting spell. The drake, surprisingly agile for his size, started to reap through the nagas just as Maenaz fired his Eldritch Blasts at them. One of the nagas seemingly dispelled the Blade Barrier effect, and the three attackers were quite prepared to fight against them as Maenaz took Melph’s Acid Arrow head-on this time before finishing the attacker with a blast.
The nagas drew closer as the Ssvaklor suddenly took to the skies, and did something which pissed Maenaz off to no end.
It used a Darkness spell.
Maenaz cursed silently as the cloud of blackness covered his eyesight, and knowing the monsters capacity for destructive behavior, took a deep breath before the dragonlike creature breathed out it’s poisonous gas.
That was beyond what Maenaz’s patience could hold, and he grabbed onto the deepest and darkest of his powers, accumulating a massive energy before releasing his Utterdark Blast in a form of a huge pillar that seemingly came from the sky. He only heard the naga’s cry of misery as they were being slain by the power.
[“Hopefully, I got this fucking dragon as well.”]

He got out of the cloud of the darkness, throwing around his nearly-useless gaze to make sure everything in this lake was dead or dying. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get the effect to wear off.
- Careful, you stupid human!- Kess’jesk snarled. – I barely dodged your stupid desperate attack out there!.
He turned to the dragon, a look of absolute rage in his clouded-over eyes, as energy swirled in his right hand and his palm darted towards the drake. Yes, this was close enough. No chance to dodge.
- Oh, how sorry I am! Should I fix that !?

The drake roared and apparently prepared to defend itself, when suddenly, someone lowered his arm with a relatively gentle but firm grip.
[“Wow, the stuck-up snake lady suddenly got me in her personal space all by herself. It seems Tymora smiles upon me today.”]
- Don’t get so angry. Ssvaklors can be aggressive and usually fight that way, used that many of their allies are resistant to the poison breaths and the like. I’ll fix you up.
[“Who are you and what did you do with that stuck-up bitch that I was so starting to hate? What, when I suddenly blast all the nagas with a mass of darkness and negative energy I am no longer stinking, ugly and stupid or what?”]

He could feel her immediately-cast spell negate the small amount of poison that managed to infect him from the serpent-dragon breaths, and she immediately handed him a Restoration potion. He threw another nasty look at the dragon and a bit less nasty, if still angry look at the Yuan-Ti, and he walked over to the waterfall that was seemingly the hiding place of Cerastes’ magical prison. Nassirah walked just a bit behind him, and he heard the dragon release another snarl before following them through.
On the inside of the waterfall there was a relatively small cave, but he did not have to look for long to see a magical seal on a rock that lied on the opposite end of the cave. Maenaz stopped.
- So, this is where the thing begins, at least. I think we should call our dear osyluth mage now.
- Yes, this is probably the right moment.

Maenaz unrolled the scroll, activated the spell in it, and then opened the Gate for the devil to go through. For a moment, the inside of the cave was shined upon by a malign light, but that was only until the familiar tall, skeletally gaunt figure with an imitation of a scorpion’s tail came through. The overall blackness of it’s eyes contrasted by the teal irises proved to Maenaz that this was indeed the devil he asked about.
- Maenaz Carn’renor. I was somewhat surprised that you would personally ask for my assistance in this.
- Indeed, Elamash, my knowledge on who’s how good a wizard in the Gate is somewhat incomplete, but since the offered option was out of question, I requested you. Since you’re here, I take it you both accepted and are capable of being a help with this problem?
- Yes. Having your invocations, including the ability to “consume” magic, my arcane abilities and a high priestess of Lord Samael at our disposal, releasing Cerastes should prove to be an easy if prolonged process. I would rather watch for the naga guardians, and whatever else might have been sealed by them.
- Indeed, we already had our first clash with the nagas. I’d say they’re overrated.
- But there may be many of them, and we still don’t know what sort of magics do their more prominent members use. So far, there were only water nagas amongst them, I take?
- Yes. No other sort of naga, or any other creature.
- Very well. Shall we begin?

The osyluth slowly walked towards the seal on the rock, inspecting it from the distance before he walked over to it, seemingly casting a spell and letting it seep into the seal. Then, he damaged the rock itself with some icy cantrip and smashed it with it’s tail, and, suddenly, a small passageway to another part of the cave was opened.
Too small for the dragon, definitely.
Nassirah decided to voice the obvious.
- Kess’jesk, I’m afraid you will have to stay up here and watch for any other naga that may come along. We do not have the time nor cant take to risks of trying to make a larger hole just for you.
- So be it, Nassirah. I shall feast upon the flesh of those already slain.

Maenaz was coming to the conclusion that the whatever Yuan-Ti genetics did to other creatures, they DID brainwash dragons. Not only the Ssvaklor presented little magical power whatsoever, and his intelect was… well, the same as an average human, except he had all this pent-up aggresion and half-animalistic urges.
He was glad to leave the stupid dragon behind. Not that he felt particularly safe or cared about in a company of a devil that has long since outgrew his current form and a Yuan-Ti that apparently hated humans. And, well, he had to rescue a naga mutant of all things.
Life was beautiful, he decided, as he ignored the rest of the group and dashed further into the darkness of the cave.

Zerenas slowly entered the chamber his Master was in, bowing slightly as Samael acknowledged him with a nod. He begun to speak.
- My lord, we have located the artifacts.
- Indeed? A bit unfortunate. I can’t send people I would like to give these missions two into two places at once, can I?
- I understand wanting to obtain the gloves, given their nature, but if I may ask, why did you order us to further observe these bracers? They seem to hold no special power of their own, and while they contain a bit of divine essence…
- Short answer, Zerenas. Because I wanted to. If you want a logical explanation, it’s because I wanted to make the payment of my debt that much easier.
- I do not think that this creature is worth such…
- Do you question my orders, fallen deva?
- …Nn….No, Lord Samael, of course not! I wouldn’t dare!
- Well, then, just continue to do as you’re told. Also, get me Morax. We will soon need to search for new additions in the plane my yugoloth allies seem to be so interested in. You’re dismissed, angel.
- Yes, M’lord.
- Oh, and Zerenas… Don’t do anything stupid. The difference in power might not be so visible to you now, but it is rare to see such potential.
- Master, I wouldn’t dare to… to attack…
- There are some pretty vile insults that are seeming to want to come out from my mouth right now, mostly considering your courage and your deceased bride-to-be, but since you’ve shown your loyality, we will pretend that this conversation did not happen and was, in fact, limited to orders only.
- Of course, my Lord.

Maenaz landed on comfortably a couple feet below, discovering this part of the cave had a somewhat marsh-like floor and already hearing the sound of slithering bodies.
It was dark in there, and it did not need to be mentioned that his eyesight still somewhat suffered from the ssvaklor’s display of the ability to summon darkness earlier. Therefore, he quickly activated his Dark Foresight, reminding himself that in the Material Plane it still worked properly.
The creatures stopped getting closer and his foresight revealed that there was no incoming attack immediately.
Then, one of the creatures spoke out. The voice was quiet and flowing, and surprisingly without so much as a hint of hissing.
- Human, you come to our secret temple, and attack members of our s'agara'ssynsa, taking their lives without any harm done by them. We will give you one last chance to leave, otherwise, we will have to take you down. There is nothing valuable to be found here, for it is a prison that we keep the fiends of our race in. Leave now and never come back.
- I wonder really who though up all those crazy snake-like sentients. Reptiles are not THAT interesting. Anyway, I feel I need to apologize, but an important clause in my contract is that one of said fiends is released, and if you all start running now then perhaps half of you will live to see the next day. How does that sound?
- Watch it, human! We are ready to fire our spells at you right no…

The creature never finished the sentence, as it’s head was severed from the body by means of a powerful blast. Maenaz immediately started to recharge his energy, just as, finally, Nassirah slipped through the entrance and fell into the damp ground next to him.
The Nagas fired a mass of Acid Arrows and Magic Missiles at the pair, most of them aimed at Maenaz but a few at the new person in the battle. After the little storm of magic passed away, another one of the nagas yelled out :
- One of the self-appointed Vrael Olo! They came here as enemies! Kill them all!

Three nagas rapidly slithered towards him, two of them apparently preparing spells, of which one was the Ghoul Touch and the other Maenaz did not bother to check. He released a cone of acid before cutting the only surviving naga of the three down, just as Nassirah Divine Hammered another pair. Elamash suddenly landed next to him just as four of the nagas cast their spells, two attacking with magic missiles and two with Mestil’s Acid Breath. Maenaz quickly stabbed his sword into the ground as he rapidly fired two rays of energy from his palms, killing one of the nagas and hurting the other. The osyluth wizard bombarded the remaining trio with Isaac’s Lesser Missile Storm, only one of the nagas surviving the onslaught and being immediately ripped to shreds by the devil. Then, one of the nagas brought about a storm of ice, which was pretty hurtful to both Maenaz and Nassirah, if less so to the osyluth. In anger, the Yuan-Ti Flamestruck one of the nagas and Maenaz blasted another pair. Then, the priestess unleashed another wave of negative energy, but, unfortunately, the snake-like creatures just seemed to keep coming.
Maenaz was about to resort to his Eldritch Doom despite the slight risk of the cave top falling down on their heads, but the osyluth found a different solution. The wizard rapidly cast a spell and charged a lighting ball in his hand, turning his head to Maenaz as he just severed the head of a nearby naga. The warlock nodded and ran over to the Yuan-Ti priestess, grabbing her by the waste, much to her surprise and probably displeasure, before charging his Eldritch Blast, jumping up and strengthening the leap by firing his blast into the ground. The osyluth limited himself to just propelling upwards with all his strength moment after he threw the Scintillating Sphere. As they were all still in mid-air, the electricity surged through pools of water and the generally humid ground, the spell effectively strengthened as the ball of electricity exploded, razing the nagas and finishing off the creatures already weakened by Nassirah’s earlier wave of negative energy. Only Elamash got himself charged a bit as he landed, but the effect was impressive – the nagas were almost all dead, the few alive ones either barely capable of moving or already making their escape.
Maenaz and Elamash finished the remaining nagas by firing respectively cones of acid and cold. Afterwards, there were no more opponents left to fight.
Nassirah spoke.
- It is incredibly rare to find so many nagas of different ages in one place. These creatures are extreme individuals and have powerful egos, so finding so many in one place and fighting together is beyond weird, even if they’re of the same naga race.
- Cerastes was reborn as a Banelar Naga through a ritual created by a god most naga have nothing to do with, and probably only a few scattered individuals of naga races other than Banelar worship. It wouldn’t be surprising if they considered him an absolute anathema to all they believe in.
- I think this is just partially the case. They said about having sealed “fiends” in here. This means that Cerastes isn’t alone in his imprisonment, and unfortunately we have no idea what these other creatures are. Let’s be careful.

The group found another seal, and after a short discussion on its nature Nassirah easily deactivated it. Elamash suggested to look for any sort of a command center, library, or at least a hiding place the water nagas could use, since they might have a map of where the seals are in there. They started searching, deactivating another seal on the way.

Maenaz asked for a bit of light and received it, though then his additional sense strongly tingled and he turned around to look for danger. He then saw it. A gruesome, vaguely humanoid shape, except with a tail, and snake tails instead of forearms and a half of one leg. The creature did not seem like it could be alive – it was grafted from flesh of seemingly different creatures, held together by Gods-knew what magic or mechanism. This could only be a construct or undead, or an utter aberration at best. Nassirah spoke.
- Serpentflesh golem. This is… so utterly loathsome, that these nagas would fall so low as to use the bodies of favored children of Sarrukh to create this… I think I can see Yuan-Ti parts in this, sewn together with naga parts and with common snakes… I think I’m going to vomit.
- I take it this thing is resistant to magic?
- Almost immune, in fact.
- So, that settles it. Let’s be quick about this. Golems usually guard something important, don’t they?

The Yuan-Ti priestess immediately boosted their strength with the Mass version of Bull’s strength, and the Osyluth Hastened them before casting another spell on himself. Maenaz decided that since his Vitriolic Blast worked on anything with spell resistance it will work in this instance as well, and he was right. The Osyluth was suddenly upon the golem, slashing with his claws and stabbing with his tail, nearly making the golem fall over, but the construct then countered with a couple of slams with the snake body it had for one limb.The Osyluth jumped away, and the construct followed, but before it caught up, Maenaz fired another blast at it. To his amazement, the golem proved quick enough to dodge, and then charge him. He heard Nassirah shout :
- Avoid it’s jaws! Only their bite delivers poison!

Maenaz, however, in his minds’ eye already saw the snake-contruct movement, and did not even need to strain himself to dodge the unprepared strike the golem made with a hand that consistes of some gruesome claws and two small vipers. With increased speed andhis usual reflex, Maenaz was quickly behind the golem, stabbing it in the back before pulling his blade out and continuously slashing at the creature that was trying to turn back to him. He accentuated the combo by firing another acidic blast straight under the creature’s neck, and the attack visibly weakened the golem, which struggled to maintain balance. Maenaz ended the struggle by kicking it into the hurt part of the chest with all his strength, making it fall over, and in a split second, Elamash was upon it, clawing and stabbing, slowly changing it into a bloody mess of snake parts. That was pretty good teamwork, actually.
- Well, that was not so hard. Let’s go and find whatever this golem was…
Maenaz suddenly turned around and fired a blast at a Water Naga that was slithering down the wall. It fell down, and Elamash finished it with a couple fo Magic Missiles.
-…guarding.


Sinnesia entered the chamber, which was unusually clean and empty, suggesting that no event of *that* kind took place here. It was a good thing, because she hated those… “gatherings” that happened here every so often.
She made sure nobody knew she was here, just as she was instructed to. Even though hiding all these things about her were.. tiring, she understood it was neccesary if she was to one day become a true leader amongst the Yuan-Ti, whether in the Gate or somewhere on the Prime Material Plane.
She walked over to the large, ornamented bed in the middle of the large chamber. She knew… the woman probably just used some drugs again. Always done this when she wasn’t getting what she was truly addicted to for some time, for whatever reason. Sinnesia was no stranger to drugs herself.
- So, dear, I’ve heard you witnessed on with your own eyes… His power.
- Yes… I… was absolutely no match. Even if I resorted to everything I had, I would never be able to beat him at this point.
- So, what do you think?
- For whatever reason, he is slightly emotionally unstable, and he did show mercy without questions asked more thoroughly… probably some stupid human sentiment for children. However, his power…The sheer might of his blast suggested he was about Pit Fiend level, and I don’t think it was all he was capable of. His combat instinct is well-developed, far more so than him being a Warlock would suggest. This makes him…
- Perfect. Like I thought. Sorry, baby, looks like someone more talented than you will come along.
- I refuse. He’s just a human. However powerful he may be, Yuan-Ti racial superiority…
- Is non-existant. They’re not even bigger, really. And if you mean sheer power… Lord Samael HIMSELF recruited that mortal. Such things do get passed on, you know. You may leave now…
Sinnesia turned around and was about to leave, when the voice behind her spoke.
- I’ve made you some mordayn tea, by the way. It’s in the next room. Go and make yourself comfortable.

Sinnesia shuddered. Mordayn, or dreammist, as many humans called it, had vapors that induced… exquisite hallucinations. The world seemed prettier from just a small dose and a bigger one could give one visions so exquisite that everything Sinnesia saw in her short life seemed dull by comparison.
There was a catch, however. Unlike her, the woman on the bed was a fucking monster. Under normal circumstances, there was technically no possibility she could get addicted to anything. Sinnesia had frail physique by comaprison, despite her great potential. She could easily get addicted, and then she might not ever be able to thinkon her own, only becoming a pawn of whoever managed to feed that addiction.
Of course, the temptation of Mordayn was strong. Too strong. She wanted to go and try it, like before. Life was dull, and life in Hades, Gehenna or somewhere in-between was just depressing even for someone as evil by blood as her.
- M…maybe later, Mother.
- Your choice. I need to feed my hunger with SOMETHING, however.


It’s been common thing on adventures that one either died or found something that he needed to finish the adventure – if you managed to defeat it’s servants, you’d always get the magical weapon that could hurt the evil beast that threatened Creation. If you needed to find an artifact or a location of power and visited the millenia-old hiding of an ancient mage that just MIGHT have known something about said artifact, then after running through his entire possesion and possibly killing his lich form, you’d find a map leading you to the artifact, or perhaps a journal that said about it. It was just fate. There was, somehow, rarely anything in-between – you either died and failed miserably, or you suceeded gloriously because through a strange twist of fate, everything was building up to help you accomplish your goal.
So, it came as no surprise to Maenaz that the serpentine golem was in fact guarding a library of sorts. They begin to search through the tablets and scrolls for whatever might be interesting, Maenaz taking a few spell scrolls and a few especially interesting tablets to give them to Hebiriel later.
Finally, they found one that depicted something akin to a cave, with specific signs drawn on it, some of them even named, or so it seemed. Nassirah explained that most of these “named” ones were in fact signed as either “first” or “second”, which could mean either the order by which they should be accessed or the “number” of the creature it sealed.

As it turned out, there was one seal in the “library” itself, and they quickly deactivated it, moving out. After some wandering, they stumbled upon another… interesting discovery.
It was a more complicated seal, with intricate patterns and writings over it, written on the ground. It was red and orange in color, was larger and generally looked completely different from the others.
- I don’t get it. – Nassirah started. – This is neither Draconic nor the language of any serpentfolk, so, who made that seal and how?
- It’s not Infernal, either. Which makes sense, given they’re trapping an evil creature here. – Elamash spoke his own opinion. – The letters do look somewhat like Draconic, however.

Maenaz walked over to the seal, and was now sure. Indeed, he recognized those markings.
This came from his two series of half-assed studies. When he was younger, he imagined he could join the clergy of the god that fascinated him, Kossuth, if he learned the language from the Plane of Elemental Fire. His studies weren’t long as his enthusiasm quickly burned out, due to the later events. He somewhat continued his studies after freeing Neverwinter from the Wailing Death, but was interrupted and send on another mission. Even though he never fully learned the langague nor has he really put that much time into studying, most people he knew for a longer time and were at least partially interested could quickly recognize that Maenaz was very talented when it came to learning languages.He was raised in a family that used Common, and by now he mastered Undercommon, the Drow “dialect” of Elven, was quite well versed with Draconic (in fact, he used the draconic magic words for his Dark Foresight invocation) and Abyssal, mediocre in Ignan and learned some Infernal, especially the alphabet that was apparently also used in the languages of most other Lower Planes. He intended to fully master the language of Baator as soon as possible. Before he never particularly put too much strain into the learning – he just tried for a time before giving up, or having something stop him. However, by now, he was pretty sure that he was rather talented in the area and decided to master the languages he already knew and learn a new one or two.
However, now, Ingan was the language concerned, so he decided to speak out.
- This is definitely Ignan, the language born in Elemental Plane of Fire.
- Impossible. These are Water Nagas we are talking about. – Nassirah voiced her disagreement.
- However, the alphabet of the signs is Draconic, and this definitely isn’t Auran, which I would know and recognize. That leaves only Ignan or some unknown language, and if the young warlock is so sure of it, I’d lean towards the first option.
- But Water Nagas cannot even use Fire spells! There’s no way they would use an Ignan seal to any effect! They wouldn’t even be able to!
- Indeed, it would make no sense if the Water Nagas made such a seal. – said Maenaz
- You’re suspecting what I’m suspecting, mortal?
- What are you two talking about?
- What the warlock is thinking – Elamash started – is that we are fighting against more than just the Water Nagas here. And despite the naga individualism and slight xenophobia, I would agree with him.
- This is rather unlikely… Unless that was another kind of naga, which the Water Nagas might tolerate. However, the possibility of a different kind of naga sharing the purpose of the ones gathered here is rather small, I’d say.
- Maybe you’re right and we’re wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re dealing with an Ignan magical seal here. And we need to deal with it somehow.
- Any ideas?
- Any version of Dispelling seems a good idea.
- Yes, and then let’s throw in a lot of magical ice, destroy it along with the seal, and use another dispelling. That should do the trick.
- So, let’s start – Elamash enticed.

Nassirah asked Maenaz to move away a bit and then put a Wall of Dispel Magic through the seal, and the trio could feel it’s magic slowly weaken. That wasn’t the most important part of the plan, however, so after a short while Elamash decided to step in. Maenaz knew the devil could come up with something and wasn’t dissapointed – a wall of ice suddenly sprouted and enveloped the dispelling energy of Nassirah’s spell, soaking the ice with it and trapping the seal’s energies under the ice.

Now, they just needed to find a way to drain the power of the seal and put it into the Ice/Dispel Magic Wall that now shined with faint blue and purple.
Maenaz knew of such a way, and concentrated hard onto the seal, knowing he just couldn’t waste the entire construction his two companions worked to make, so his invocation had to be focused on the seal only. He grabbed onto the magical energies of the seal with his magic-devouring invocation and begun to draw it out… and into the ice. After a moment, he stopped. The ice was visibly violet now, and was beginning to melt. Nassirah was preparing a spell, and Elamash nodded to him.

Maenaz focused as to make the blast as contained as possible and his eyes begun to shine. After a moment, he aimed straight into the seal, and unleashed his Eldritch Doom, the ice shattering under the power of the invocation that drove deep into the ground, destroying the seal’s contruction. The subsumed magical energy flew out of the cracked ice in form of violet arcane flames, just as Nassirah released her Greater Dispel Magic at the raging flames, succesfully getting rid of them.

The weirdest and probably hardest to remove seal up until now was therefore removed, and they checked the table with the map of the seals for reference. It turned out they only had three seals to go before all that remained were the seals signed as “First” and “Second”.
- Let’s split up. After that, we will gather back here and decide which seals to remove.
- Are you sure about this, warlock? We will be easier targets for the naga and whatever helps them if we split up.
- We slaughtered most of them so far, it seems. Otherwise, they would be upon us. In fact, if we want them to fight in the open, we should lure them out by splitting up. Otherwise, they may try some sneak attacks or restoring the seals we’ve already removed. Besides… I don’t know about you two, but I feel pretty confident I can take any of these naga down. They seem so… overrated.
- Water nagas are probably the weakest of the major naga subraces – Nassirah explained. – However, if it is as you said, and they have help from another naga creature, we might end up in greater danger than you think.
- Based on what we have fought thus far, I do not believe we will be in much danger at all. I stand by my opinion.
- If you’re so confident, let us do it. We shall meet here once it is all done. If one of us does not return in an hour, we decide what to do.
- Fine. Good luck.

Both the devil and the warlock were moving to leave, but the Yuan-Ti stood there for a moment, before following the warlock. He noticed that, turned to her, and raised an eyebrow quizically.
The pureblood stopped, standing unusually close to him considering their relations so far. She looked at him and appeared uncomfortable for a moment.
- It feels a bit… inconsiderate and stupid, and overly emotional to only say that now, Scaleless One, bu…but…
- But what?
- I’m impressed. With you, I mean. You’re definitely in no way the typical, average human. In fact, it’s a bit of a pity you weren’t born as a Vrael Olo, because you could achieve very much if you have. Still, perhaps there is a way to turn your potential into true magnificence, and we should discuss this later.
- What is it? Some kind of apology?
- No. Yes. Maybe. You are… rather extraordinary, mortal. Your willpower, eldritch might, confidence, knowledge, are all above anything I’ve ever seen in a Scaleless One. That’s why I felt it neccesary to make it known to you that my opinion has… changed. We shall leave it at that right now.
- Yes. We have a mission to finish. I will confess to being slightly flattered.
She gave him a shade of a smile, or perhaps a smirk.
- Indeed. Humans and their over-excited reactions.
- That actually describes most of us pretty well.

She nodded and turned away, going straight to her own seal, and he did the same.


Maenaz wondered what sort of “bonus” creature was sealed in this place. After all, everything pointed to it being so – the numering they’ve put on a couple of seals, the fact that the nagas at the entrance reffered to “fiends” and not just to Cerastes, and so on.

Maenaz approached “his” seal, and realized it was not really different from others they’ve seen thus far. He walked over to it, quietly considering how to deactivate it. Putting his hand on the seal, he decided to go with simply destroying it’s construction and then dispelling it with a scroll, so he charged his finger with eldritch energy and begun to work.

Unknown to him, something DID get inside the cave through an entrance that would be useless to him or his companions, and it was now slowly and carefully approaching him from behind.
In the last moment, Maenaz recognized there was the barest hint of a sound, and turned around to see something which looked like the coils of a large, multi-colored serpent. They were very, very close, and Maenaz was about to do something, when suddenly, he found himself too caught up with the snake’s movement. He simply looked at it, realizing this was no snake at all as it spoke.
- Tell me… What is your name, human, and why are you here?

Maenaz couldn’t even stop looking at the creature’s movement when the question slowly sunk into the bottom of his mind. He opened his mouth without thinking.
- I am Maenaz. I was sent here along with my companions by their Master, in order to release a certain naga priest that is sealed here.
- Would you be as kind as to tell me who this Master is before you leave?
- Oh, yes, of course. Their Master is an ancient devil named… Wait, what?

Maenaz quickly snapped out of looking at the creature’s movement, which apparently induced some sort of charming or hypnotic effect, and looked up. The creature’s body was rather long, probably about ten feet, but very slim and it did not seem too powerful. The snakelike body was adorned on top with a very pretty, feminine face, whose rather human head was adorned with purple and red feathers. Maenaz realized this must be the naga that made the seal in the Ignan language, the one that isn’t a Water Naga, the “special help” they’ve had.

The creature moved far quicker than him, but it still did not display truly aggressive behavior – it merely quickly encircled his body with it’s own, without even squeezing, and brought its face more level with the warlock’s.
- You’re not welcome here. You have killed the members of this s'agara'ssynsa, of this nest, haven’t you?
- That’s part of the deal. They were aggressive.
- Do you even understand what we were tryign to accomplish here? You cannot release the creatures that we have imprisoned! The world will be for the worse if you do!
- My world already cannot be much worse, creature. I intend to release Cerastes, and nothing will stop me.
- You don’t know what you’re talking about. You cannot do this!
- Why not? That’s the only way I get what I want. If a bunch of snake people get killed for me to accomplish my goal, so be it.
- … You have to be stopped. I’m sorry.

The naga’s body suddenly constricted him as he realized a bit scary looking sting has emerged from the end of its tail. Maenaz rapidly charged his hand with eldritch energy, but before he managed to fire it, he was stabbed with the sting. Maenaz shuddered and fired his blast uncontrollably, with the creature avoiding it through untangling its body off him and rapidly withdrawing. Maenaz suddenly felt extremely sleepy
The warlock nearly fell flat on the ground, barely keeping himself conscious. What the hell was he injected with?
- Don’t worry, my poison isn’t deadly. It just puts the person it’s injected into heavy slumber. I need to restrain you.
- I think… haaaaahhhh – he sneezed- … I think you’re underestimating me… Naga!
Maenaz quickly pulled Enserric out of his sheath and, not wasting time for thinking about what to do, cut himsel on the shoulder and part of his chest. The pain helped him stay awake, as did the fact that his body was quite used to dealing with toxins and infections by now, if not extremely so.
Still, he managed to stay conscious, and fired a sideways blast at the serpentine creature, which it dodged before it answered with it’s own barrage of Scorching Rays. So, that one DID use fire magic. Maenaz was still too immobile to dodge, but was quickly regaining his consciousness. He put up a wall of flames right beneath the naga, whom quickly got out of it with sinnous movement and suddenly attacked him from above with its sting again.
This surely snapped the warlock out of his half-slumber. He turned sideways to the fast-approaching tail and suddenly jumped so he would be turned with his back towards the ground, giving a well-aimed overhead kick to the attacking tail. The tail swept sideways from it’s own momentum and the warlock’s kick, stabbing into the ground and probably getting trapped there for a moment, as the warlock found that the creature’s head was low above the ground and just where he wanted it to be. Right after he fell, he kicked the end of the creature’s neck with his calf and trapped it under his leg, so it couldn’t move.
Maenaz started to gather energy in his hand.
- And you hoped to stop me? Oh, come on, who do you think you are?

He was about to fire his blast when the creature let out a sound, and he recognized it did not mean to scream before it died. Well, not in the way he would like it, more precisely.
The creature’s magical shout gave him a headache and almost knocked him out for a moment, as it managed to move it’s head a bit and then turn it’s sinous body, slamming the warlock in the stomach and trying to wrap around him once again. Maenaz quickly regained full consciousness after shaking off the effect of the spell, and noticed the position he was in, quickly stabbing Enserric into the end of the being’s tail that still hovered not so far from his head. The naga stopped its doing and let out a cry of pain, raising it’s head above the rest of its coils. That’s just what the warlock wanted, and he immediately punched the naga’s pretty face, the strength of the hit sending it back. He then regained the energy into his hand and blasted the naga’s body, which caused her to give him the full freedom of movement. Maenaz rolled away and got back onto his feet, while the naga licked it’s bleeding lips.
It did not wait long, however, firing a Lighting Bolt which the warlock just barely dodged, before it cast another spell, this one healing it.
He was about to voice a question, when the naga answered it before it made its way out of his mouth.
- You know, this is very uncourteous of you, to punch a priestess.
- You’re a naga. I’m not even sure if you’re a female.
- Oh. I can bear children… And I consider myself as such, if it’s fine with you.
- Well, then, I will tell you it is very unladylike to crawl all over a man’s body.
The naga actually smiled.
- Hey, you’ve got me there, but what’s a woman to do when you’re forcing your way into her home, and there’s something in there she doesn’t want you to see?
- Enough small talk, naga.
- If you say so… It appears you won’t give up as easily as usual unwanted guests. So, what can I do to convince you that freeing Cerastes is wrong, and you shouldn’t do that?
- Nothing. I don’t particuarly care. Just get out of my way. Or keep standing in it, and I will kill you.
- Do you think this will be so easy?
- Of course it will. I’ve killed many nagas today. One more or less, what does it change?
- You’re a really bad human, you know that?
- Just bring it on.

Maenaz then realized that during their talk, she already used a Shield spell and now put up a Stoneskin over her body before firing a Lighting Bolt straight into him. This time, he couldn’t dodge, but fired another eldritch blast that she barely dodged, and he managed to get in a couple of sword swings against her improved defenses. She apparently decided it was enough of playing around, because he immediately recognized that the next spell she cast was a rather powerful one.
She fired a Vitriolic Sphere, hitting him despite his attempt to dodge, and he reciprocated by putting another wall of flames under her before he leaped at her and started slashing with his sword. He could tell her stoneskin was quite powerful, but not powerful enough to keep resisting his attacks. And that meant one thing.
He smirked as she withdrew from him, panting a bit, and fired another pair of Scorching Rays, which he countered with his Eldritch Blast.
- You seem as if you were having good fun for someone who just got struck by acid… Indeed, you take it exceptionally well. Your kind of thing?
- Maybe. What is your name, priestess?
- I am Vaastania, priestess of Sune and an Iridescent Naga sorceress.
- Well, I’ll tell you something, Vaastania. Your tactics so far weren’t bad at all, except…
- Except?
- You failed to realize that acid and fire are the two types of energy I am the most resistant to. That’s one thing.
- And the other?
- I’m a warlock with certain power that drives wizards and priests mad. Here, let me demonstrate.

The warlock rapidly activated his invocation, reaching out for the protective magic that the naga used and reaping it away from her, before feeding his life force on the magical energies of the spells he just absorbed – for a time, at least.
Vaastania’s eyes widened in surprise as his smirk turned into a grin, and he added.
- Well, last but not least… when it come to bathing things in acid, I’m the absolute best. Believe it.

Maenaz immediately fired a cone of acid at the creature, before closing in and starting to madly slash at her with Enserric. The naga slammed him with her tail and rapidly cast a healing spell before releasing another magical Shout and trying to stab him with her sting. Maenaz reacted by blasting the approaching tail and turning to face the creature. She frantically dodged the next two slashes and his Eldritch Blast, yelling out :
- Can’t you see? Don’t you understand how much pain you actions may bring? How much loss and despair Cerastes could bring to innocent people if you release him?
- Not more than I have suffered, and there’s no such thing as innocent people!


Maenaz dodged another pair of Scorching Rays before shoving his Eldritch Blast straight into the naga’s body. She fired another Lighting Bolt and evaded his Beshadowed Blast before yelling:
- What is WRONG with you? What did this world ever do to you that you’re so jaded and angry?
- Everything! “Innocent” people took away everything from me! You wouldn’t understand, you’re just a fucking snake!
- Wait, you…

Maenaz cut into the being’s body pretty deeply as he started to accumulate energy. A darkness crawled onto his eyes as he kicked the naga’s body away, a strange symbol flashing on his forehead as he leaped back and unleashed the terryfying power of his Utterdark Blast in its most destructive incarnation. A mass of darkness dyed from the red stars inside it came down in form of a giant pillar, quickly consuming the naga’s body as she released a strained yelp of pain.

Maenaz felt this was it. The naga was quite powerful compared to the other snakelike creatures they’ve encountered here, and had far more endurance than her looks would suggest, but right now, she was either losing consciousness, dead, or dying. Things just didn’t take on the power of this blast and kept moving, unless they were extremely powerful things.

He was about to turn away when the blast’s remains cleared, and he noticed that Vaastania was still awake and looked almost capable of fighting, though she was visibly tired, drained, and hurt all over.
He glanced at her angrily, but then, she said:
- You… You have loved and lost the one you love, did you not?
Maenaz shuddered. [“How did she…”].
In a moment, he calmed down. It was obvious.
- You’re a priestess of Sune. It’s obvious you would think that way.
- But… is it true? Tell me. It’s not like I can use this against you.
- Yes, in fact. The reason I am here is because the fiend that wants Cerastes released promised to help me take revenge upon those who took her away from me, and so far has been keeping his promise. And I intend to hold my part of the bargain.
- But… do you think she would want you to act that way just to avenge her? Would she even want to be avenged?

The warlock went silent. Oh, how rarely he thought that way. How long since he abandoned that way of thinking – “would Aribeth want that”? It only came up when he tortured himself about his relationship with Valsharess. Otherwise, it was kept away, for simplicity’s sake.
Of course, Aribeth wanted revenge on Neverwinter, herself. But was it the true Aribeth? Or just the one projected by Morag’s nightmares, her and her servants magical suggestions?
Would the true Aribeth, the one that said she had feelings for him, want him to go so far for revenge?
- I… don’t know. But this is the only thing I can think about.
- I understand you feel pain, and loss, maybe a lot of anger… But is it a reason to turn towards evil?
- Yes! You don’t understand! She deserved much more! She served this city, and they doomed her twice! I saved Neverwinter, and the only thing they gave me is a wound, straight to my soul! I will slaughter them all, and if it requires me to free your stupid Banelar Naga from here, I will do so!

Vaastania seemed taken aback by this, and her face became sad.
- I… I see. We all must cope somehow in face of such a terrible loss, but it’s a pity that person with your abilities decided to cope by getting so angry and vengeful. I guess you have the right to be angry, but that may not be the right thing to do… Still, I cannot stop you, but I ask you not to release the creatures trapped in here. They pose a great threat to your kind, to my kind… And to you, mostly. There’s no telling what will happen with you if they decide to turn on you.
- What is the other creature sealed here? And which of the seals release Cerastes?
- I… cannot tell you. But the other creature is a terryfying beast, probably unlike anything you’ve faced before. Out of good reason, please, do not release these creatures. You may die, and bring great peril upon the world.
- You’re overreacting. I’m far more powerful than any naga.
- Maybe you are… And maybe you aren’t. Like I said, I cannot force you… I only ask you to do the right thing. Now… Do you want to finish our fight?

Maenaz looked at her. This creature found out about his emotional peril and found it’s most chaotic spot – about whether Aribeth should be avenged, or would she herself be against it – in just a few minutes of fighting, and a couple of angry answers he threw at her. Under different circumstances…
- No. Leave. Run. You’re free to go. I… don’t think you deserve to die. My companions would of course disagree, so run while you can. If you get in my way again… I won’t hesitate.
- So, there is mercy in your heart, despite all the anger. It’s good to see. I wish you’d find love in this soul of yours as well, one that would bring you out of the sadness, brightened your life.
- I did. But it died long ago. Leave, now. Farewell, Vaastania.
- Just remember what I said. Please do the right thing.

She turned to leave, throwing one more glance at him before she went completely out of his sight. Maenaz felt incredibly stupid for letting an enemy get away, but he would allow himself to do this once. Because despite getting him angry and reminding him about Aribeth in a way that left him confused and unsure of himself, she, unlike others, allowed him to remember these few precious moments when she smiled at him and was herself, not the time when they were fighting, or her death.
And so, the priestess of Sune and a Naga Sorceress in one person deserved a small respite.

He, however, did not, and immediately got back to work.


Some time later…


Turned out Elamash was attacked by two quite powerful naga sorceres, at least compared to what they’ve met so far, and came to the meeting place last and after he almost run out of time. Nassirah was there first and greeted Maenaz, and while they spent nearly whole time remaining in silence, he was aware she’s been throwing him curious glances from time to time.
What a change in attitude. From bitchy to schoolgirly, almost.
Nassirah cured their minor wounds, and Maenaz confessed to meeting another kind of naga, one that used fire spells amongst others, which would explain the presence of an Ignan seal. He lied about killing the naga, and then, they’ve decided that they will start removing the seals “in order” – meaning starting with the ones with “First” and then going to the “second” ones. Maenaz also said to leave one seal in place in case they got split up, because he had an “obligation” he had to fulfill.

They have quickly removed the first two of the free seals marked with the “First” sign and moved on to the third.

Of course, this has roused the few remaining water nagas, and Maenaz knew they were gathering to stand up against the group for the last time, since just one seal remained before one of their prisoners would be released. Hopefully, this would end up being Cerastes and they could finally leave.

The fight was initiated by the group of nagas all firing Magic Missiles against the group. Elamash was prepared to counter with Isaac’s Missile Storm, but quickly changed tactics and held it as the majority of the magic missiles were negated by Maenaz firing an Eldritch Doom in their path. Then, Emalash released his spell, destroying the last few missiles and then attacking the poor group of Water Nagas.
Nassirah continued the onslaught by Flame Striking another naga, sending it to its doom. Maenaz interrupted two of the naga by Eldritch Blasting them during the incantations, but then realized he attempted to stop the wrong naga.
Before he could do anything, a burst of sound erupted from one of the naga, quickly making it’s way to the group with a flash and strange vibrations. Then, it hit the ground, and Maenaz was sure he’d go deaf as well as blind. His entire body was shook inside with vibrations and his mind was completely disconcerted from the Cacophonic Burst, blood starting to flow out of his ears as both him and Nassirah yelled in pain.
Elamash was however conscious enough to quickly cast a Scintillating Sphere and heavily raze the group of nagas with damage. However, moments later, they were being both smashed around and number from cold because of two simultaneous castings of Ice Storm and being bombed by Magic Missiles.
It wouldn’t stop them, though. All in the group now recognized what was the real danger, and it was minimally too late when the strongest Naga sorcerer realized what was about to happen. He immediately cast a spell to quicken his subjects as he ordered them to “run”, but only some of them managed to react before a mass of acid came down on them.

That was not the end, however, as Nassirah was already running over there, and suddenly pounced onto the powerful naga, shoving a Harm spell straight into it and sending it into the embrace of death.
Maenaz protected her from the side with a Wall of Fire as she jumped into the smaller group of nagas, unleashing a Blade Barrier that begin to cut them up. Then, the warlock fired an Eldritch Chain, finishing the nagas off. The remaining ones retreated into the shadows, surely preparing another attack, and then he noticed that Elamash already started to undo the seal.
He smirked as he ran to the Yuan-Ti in order to help her defend from another naga attack. Elamash was doing the job pretty quickly, but the nagas noticed it anyway…

And started panicking.
- No, you cannot! Don’t do this! The creature in there is an abomination! Don’t!
- Oh, shut up, little snakes. We do what we want to.

A group of naga suddenly appeared from the shadows behind Elamash and the seal. Maenaz saw they were all casting spells and decided to protect the osyluth in a flashy and dramatic fashion. Just before the spells were fired, Maenaz’s eyes were strongly gleaming, and he fired the Eldritch Doom into the course of the nagas flowing magic, killing one of the nagas in the process and countering all of their spells.

And then, the seal was broken. All the nagas froze, before a strange gleam started to come out from the wall next to Elamash, and then, the features of the wall became distorted.
Maenaz just watched in fascination, and so did Nassirah. She did, however, had a question.
- What do you think it is?
- They’ve probably sealed Cerastes in the Ethereal Plane’s version of this cave… The numbered seals hold a being inside the Ethereal Plane, and most of the other seals were probably used to supress its power, or to cut the Ethereal version of this cave out of the rest of the Ethereal Plane.
- That sounds sensible. I wonder, however, did they panick this much because of Cerastes, or have we unleashed the wrong creature?
- Let’s hope it is Cerastes. I have no patience to deal with anything else today.

By the time they were done talking, there was a large, swirling pool of white and silvery energy in the wall, slowly distorting the features around it. Then, something moved, and a shape started to form out of the energy.

Two of the Water Nagas suddenly shouted and cried out in terror. A seemingly incorporeal, transluscent head of a creature appeared, followed by its long, snake neck.

Maenaz watched in disturbed fascination as suddenly, another, different head appeared, seemingly connected to the first one somewhere.
And it wasn’t over. Following the first two relatively humanoid heads, a far more reptilelike, green head moved out of the sphere of light. After it, another, colored red and orange, head and neck
The last head was an indescribable mix of human and monstrous, with dark, black and violet lower jaw and neck adorned with a light brown head with winglike ears. Then, the main body of the creature moved out, which was giant, multicolored, and limbless, snake-like until the last part, where the tail parted into two.

The “portal” started to close behind the multiheaded creature, and the water nagas were still standing frozen with fear. The creature slithered past Elamash, who eyed it up with some concern, and got closer to the water nagas.
- Banelar nagas… look like that?! – Maenaz couldn’t help but ask.

Soon, the shining and space distorting effects dissappeared, and the creature started to flesh out before their eyes. All of the heads grinned as the water nagas all screamed in fear, and the snake beast immediately cast a spell.
- No… This isn’t Cerastes! It’s a nagahydra!
- Now, that is rather crazy shit…

The nagahydra fired a Cone of Cold at the terrified nagas, quickly killing most of them. It rapidly slithered to finish off the remaining pair with two of it’s jaws, before it quickly turned its attention to the remaining water nagas and the pair of humanoid nearby.
Suddenly, Maenaz realized what was the most terrifying option about being a multiheaded, spellcasting creature.
And he knew they were going to get attacked. One just needed to look at this beast.

A rush of life suddenly surged from inside Maenaz, as he grabbed the Yuan-Ti priestess, much to her surprise, and threw her across the cave. It turned out this was the last moment to do this, since just a second later, the nagahydra was firing a Fireball AND a Chain Lighting against the beings that concentrated in one place.
- Maenaz!


The warlock was on his knees, after his body got both burned with fire and run through with powerful electricity, his body on the verge of giving in. He looked to the side to see that Nassirah was trying to run over to him and heal him, but a wall of fire was sprung in her way. He yelled at her to attack the creature, which suddenly said something that he couldn’t quite make out. It was in Abyssal, but he barely heard anything through all the pain. He spit out blood, and weakly stood on his legs.
Strength was quickly surging back to him. He was right to fire up his regeneration abilities when he did.

He looked at the nagahydra, hatred in his gaze
One of the heads turned to Elamash and negated his own Scorching Rays with three from the naga, but that meant four heads remained that were capable of spellcasting. Maenaz decided it was no time to play around, immediately calling upon his most dreadful power.
His eyes were filled with darkness as a strange symbol flashed on his forehead, but before he fired his blast, he carefully studied what spells the nagahydra was using.

It was making itself stronger. Mage’s armor, Stoneskin, Bull Strength and Eagle’s Splendor, in that order.

Maenaz then fired the Utterdark Blast at the infuriating creature. It was rapidly followed by a Scintillating Sphere from Elamash and a Flame Strike from Nassirah, which gave Maenaz time he needed to try and rip the protective magic off it. Turned out, the beasts spellcasting power was quite formidable, but he was able to dispose of both Mage Armor and Eagle’s Splendor.

The nagahydra regained its composure and turned two of its heads towards Maenaz, and the rest towards his companions. Maenaz had no time to pay attention to the other spells cast as he quickly recognized the beast was about to fire a Fireball and some Scorching Rays at him. He needed to be prepared. The moment the nagahydra fired the spells he did something which would, under any other circumstances, probably be described as “showing off” by him.

He made a huge, invocation-enhanced leap, jumping over both the spells and flying straight into the naga’s body. The naga’s eyes widened in surprise at the feat, just before a vitriolic blast was shoved into the beings front body. Turned out Maenaz did not aim his jump perfectly and kept flying instead of landing just before the creature, so he just took advantage of it and cut through one of its necks as he flied between them and fell onto the ground behind the naga. One of the naga’s head turned towards him as he rolled over back onto his legs, but the warlock’s reflex was as impressive as ever, firing a Beshadowed Blast straight into its face and stopping it from casting a spell.

Suddenly, Elamash grabbed the blinded head after a large jump from behind, using Shocking Grasp to further damage and immobilize it just as Maenaz was charging upon the creature.
- Cut it off, warlock!

Maenaz grabbed Enserric with both his hands and quickened his pace. In just a moment, he was upon the creature, the blade swung down with all his strength as the creature’s red head fell off it’s body.
- Fire or acid! It will stop it from regenerating !

Elamash needed no further enticement as he released a couple Fire Arrows, one of them aimed straight at the beast’s severed neck. The nagahydra immediately turned three of it’s remaining heads towards the devil and the warlock, all of them firing Cones of Cold as to damage them both. The other head apparently fired Scorching Rays at Nassirah, who in turn Divine Hammered it. Maenaz and Elamash lashed out against the creature, quickly breaking its Stoneskin completely and dealing some damage before Elamash fired a Lesser Missile Storm into it, grabbed Maenaz and hurled him over the creature. The warlock fired the blasts during his entire flight, and as he landed hardly against the ground, Nassirah was already there with a healing spell. She then charged her hand up with negative energy and Maenaz brought his legs up, bent in knees as Nassirah jumped onto them, and then they rapidly propelled her towards the naga mutant. She smashed one head with her mace and discharged her negative energy into the beast’s back as she landed on it, before rolling down off the beast. Maenaz let go of Enserric and quickly fired two Beshadowed blasts at the creature’s heads, blinding one of the heads but not the other. The creature discharged a Chaing Lighting into his companions and razed him with both a Fireball and a Scorching Ray. He grabbed Enserric, just as Elamash fired a Vitriolic Sphere into the beast, and Nassirah healed herself and the devil. Maenaz was quickly upon the creature, engaging its heads in melee as he prepared for one to get into a position to sever it. They were all razed with different spells as the nagahydra defended itself desperately, and Maenaz couldn’t help but recognize the terryfying danger the creature would possess if a member of such species ever had enough time to further increase its spellcasting power.

Nassirah deployed the moment of the creature’s lack of concentration and immediately jumped onto its back and propelled herself off it, smashing one of the heads from behind and landing so her body was hovering over the neck. Maenaz grabbed his sword with both hands as he saw an opportunity present itself, though was hesitant… Until he realized Veniseria was rapidly pushing her hips forward and straightening, giving him a good place to strike at… just behind and below her butt. He prayed that his eyesight and hand-eye coordination were still good enough, and swung his sword down. He felt the mass of the creature’s neck slip off it and inbetween the pureblood woman’s legs as he immediately fired a Vitriolic Blast into the stump. The creature yelped in pain, as Elamash stopped it from retaliating with another Shocking Grasp and repeated raking with his claws and tail. Maenaz fired another acidic blast into the creature as Veniseria shout at them to “prepare” and used her most powerful negative energy spell for the second time today, Harming the giant nagahydra just as both Maenaz and Elamash jumped back and away from it, starting to prepare their own attacks. Veniseria started running away from the creature as Elamash unleashed his Scintillating Sphere, and Maenaz’s eyes were glowing heavily by that moment, the electric explosion quickly followed by a mass of eldritch energy coming down seemingly from the cellar in the shape of Eldritch Doom. All of the remaining three heads screamed out in pain as the creature’s giant body fell flat against the floor, blood and saliva spilling out of it’s jaws. Maenaz wasted no time and put the beast on flames, before approaching it and severing all the heads one after the other and bathing the stumps in acid just to make sure the beast was dead and killed in every possible way.

After that, he fell flat on his ass, as Nassirah and Elamash have done immediately after their last concentrated attack.
- I believe we need to ask Lord Samael for a raise, or complain about the difficulty level of these missions – Nassirah, for the first time in years, voiced her disregard and irritation concerning the actions of her own superior.
- Yes, I think we should do so. “Diplomatic mission”, my ass!
- I, on the other hand, think Lord Samael should consider hiring a Nagahydra and not a Banelar Naga priest. This thing can fire spells five time as fast as any other spellcaster! This is pure madness!
- Madness?... – Maenaz asked, almost whispering- …. Yes, that is the correct word.


They rested for a few moments before Nassirah healed them and they moved on to removing the last three seals, which unless this whole expedition was a one big lie, would release Cerastes. They did not split up this time, and it seemed all the Water Nagas were killed by now.

Maenaz made sure one of the seals was in a place where he could blow it off relatively intact, and then told his companions to leave it intact. After deactivating the two other seals, they have returned to the last one. Maenaz did as Hebiriel told him – used his Devour Magic invocation on the seal, drawing as much of it’s magic as possible out of the seal, before blasting it and disconnecting it from the rest of the cave. They become vaguely aware that another portal was opened somewhere in the cave.
- Let’s spread out. If you find him, do not attempt to negotiate with him, not to mention fight him, alone, just signal your presence.


The group has spread, running singularly all over the cave. Maenaz put his bet that Cerastes was sealed somewhere closer to the middle of the cave, and so moved there.
He activated Dark Foresight as he run, and it turned out to be just the right decision, as he had to dodge a sudden attack from the side with a stinger. It came to no surprise to him when he saw a snake-like creature was the source of the attack…

Only this one was completely different. Around its jaws, many small tendrils were located, some even adorned with magical rings. The creature’s head was relatively humanoid, but purple in color, with dark red markings on its cheeks and forehead. Further, the creature’s body was purple on the back and dark green on the downside, with the upper body seemingly consisting of spiked, plate-like segments that were outlined with dark grey marks and adorned with markings of the same color. The creature’s eyes were of a dark golden color, and had no irises. It was also far larger than anything he met today, save for the nagahydra.
The creature spoke in a deep, slightly conceited, but full of composure :
- What are you searching for in my prison, mortal?
- I am the one that has freed you, Cerastes.
- Ah. If you did, then you must know what you have done. So, why would you, a poor, weak human, release someone like me? Did you seek any boon, from me, a Naga blessed by a god of darkness? Surely, you cannot be so foolish?
- I do not expect anything of you just because I released you. I come here with an offer.
- An offer, from a human like you? Oh, no. I sense your godlessness, mortal. Are you so arrogant that you’ve turned your back on your betters? Or so pathetic that you can’t find a meaning to your own life, and so cling desperately to any small quest or aim, in order to give your life at least a shade of meaning? I will tell you now, human. You’re weak. You current pursuit is meaningless, because it was a mortal, either you or another one, that pushed you to do this. You cannot succeed, and your aim is empty, futile, and ultimately, useless.
- What do you know of my goals? How do you know what I’m planning to accomplish, you damn snake!

Cerastes immediately fired a Lighting Bolt as his tail moved simultaneously to stab the Warlock. He preferred to get somewhat hurt with the lighting to getting injected with venom.
- Then prove to me that your pathetic pursuit has any meaning at all. Then maybe, I will listen to this offer of yours. Show me you have even the slightest conviction.

Maenaz was angry. Mad. He fired a blast into the air simply because he knew this was the only moment he would remember about signalizing his position.
Then, he put a wall of flames under the naga and leapt against it, starting the assault. He continuously slashed and cut at the creature, which answered by casting some Inflict Wounds spell on him. Maenaz quickly blasted the creature’s body before avoiding its tail, and then tried to chop off its sting. Cerastes cast Magic Armor before bombarding him with Magic Missiles, but Maenaz quickly responded with a well-aimed Vitriolic Blast, and then returned to a mad offensive, pushing the priest of a dead god back more and more. The naga managed to cast Hypothermia through all this, and Maenaz was surprised that a divine caster with no living deity was still able to cast such relatively high-level spells.

He decided not to mess anymore. Grey haze surrounded his eyes as he concentrated energy, and fired a Beshadowed Eldritch Doom at the banelar naga. Cerastes yelped in pain, but it was far from over, as Maenaz suddenly quickened up the pace of his offence, repeatedly slashing and blasting the creature that had to spend more and more of its unnaturaly quickly-and-freely cast spells on healing itself.
- What are you ?! Are you even human?!
- Shut up and fight, Naga!


Suddenly, Maenaz realized that Elamash and Nassirah arrived into the battlefield, and the Osyluth Wizard used a few Scorching Rays to increase his advantage. Nassirah did not limit herself, using Flame Strike.
Maenaz jumped back, preparing another blast. The creature also prepared a spell, and he vaguely recognized it was to be shaped as a ray, just like his blast. A strange symbol flashed over the warlock’s forehead as the naga’s ray of Searing Light approached him, and at the last moment, Maenaz fired his Utterdark Blast against it. The naga’s spell stopped, and then, started to recede as the warlock’s blast pushed constantly towards the banelar, until it completely overwhelmed the spell and hit the naga. Maenaz was immediately preparing another spell when Elamash stopped them, saying :
- Do not fight us, great Naga. We come here with an offer.
- I’ve already heard this from the human. I did not, however, know any devils were involved. I am not interested in dealing with the Nine Hells, however.
- Then it is perfect – said Nassirah – because we do not come in the name of Baator. We come here in the name of my master.
- You’re a priestess, and yet, I can feel no faith in the young human. Also, the source of your powers… It is not a divine one, is it?
- Listen to our offer, will you?
- Speak.

Maenaz started.
- We come on the behalf of a certain Archdevil that has long since abandoned the Nine Hells. His name is Samael. He was recently trapped in this plane and in the meantime, his High Priest has been killed. Lord Samael says you would be perfect to fill in that role, and is willing to restore your powers to your previous level… and more. Also, you will be given an asylum in his fortress in the Lower Planes, away from your current enemies, at least for a time.
- And yet, you speak about worshiping a devil. This does not guarantee a safe afterlife nor that my new powers will be safe… Or always at my disposal. In fact, I am almost guaranteed to lose my soul in the process.
- This is where I believe I should step in – Nassirah spoke. – In reality, your soul won’t be in danger as much as you think, nor for as long as you think. Master Samael has a certain plan, a plot he wants you to be part of. This mortal also is a part of that, though currently, he is but a mercenary. I would also like to inform you that he was in no way empowered by our Master… Those that are can reach even greater levels. What do you say? Are you willing to listen to my Master directly?
- If this mortal isn’t the worshipped nor beneficient of a pact with your archdevil, why is he here?
- Lord Samael helps me in attaining my own purpose. The *conviction* towards which I’ve just shown you.

The banelar naga went silent, considering.
- So… be it. I will listen to this Lord Samael of yours.

Half a day later, in the Gate of Vipers…

Maenaz entered Hebiriel’s tower with all the scrolls, tablets, and the still partially magically-infused seal he promised to deliver.
It wasn’t hard to find the large snake-like member of the Nefarious Seven. It nodded at Maenaz, who walked over and slowly put all these things across the table.
Hebiriel hissed, but it sounded more like approval than anything else, curiously.
- Very well. You held up to your part of the bargain. Therefore, I will enchant your blade, and give you access to the knowledge you seek. What sort of power will you seek to know about?
- Lord Samael claims there is a high possibility I have latent Duskblade powers. If so, I would like to awaken them.
- Latent Dusbklade powers in a human? That would be rare. Very well, I can search for the proper scrolls and books, and also teach you the meditation techniques that could be helpful to concentrate properly and bring out the energy that will let you cast your first Duskblade spell. Be warned, however – even if you have the talent, after so much time of lying dormant even with my or Lord Samael’s help, it could take even a month to activate. Though, Lord Samael seems to believe in your potential, and as such, it may take a lot less time.
- I am fine with that, as long as I can gain more power to use against Neverwinter.
- Very well. Come here early tomorrow. I will be ready to enchant your blade and teach you.
- I’ll be sure to do it.

Maenaz walked out of the Hebiriel’s tower. His eyesight was, once again, on the worse side. He walked over to a column and put his hand and head on it, breathing heavily.
[“What is wrong with me? I cannot be sick. This is no sickness… It is related somehow to this Vile energy, after all! I am not going… I definitely won’t let myself go blin…”]

He didn’t even manage to finish his though as he felt a rather large and warm hand on his shoulder, one quite soft, but with an inhuman skin and long fingernails. He turned around to see himself face-to-face with Euryale.
Well, breasts-to-face was more correct, given the difference in height.He stepped back, asking:
- Euryale? What is it? What do you want?
- Oh, at the moment, I am more curious about what you’re so interested in.
- What do you mean?
- You were thinking about something right now, weren’t you? And more importantly, you’ve just left the place of my delightful snakelike peer. What were you doing here?
- Hebiriel is… supposed to enchant my sword with magic. We’ve also had a deal that does not concern you.
- Oh… You had a deal, you say? And why are you making deals with HIM, pray tell?
- Apparently, he…
- Nevermind. It’s not so important. Whatever it was, my dear warlock… I can assure you I could probably provide you with something of pretty much the same worth, if you asked. Not to mention that the price for my help would be one… Much more fun and pleasurable to pay…
Maenaz shrugged. What was that?
[“Did she just suggest I should become her whore in return for some unspecified services? No, this is…”]

- I… I don’t know what are you talking about. I’m not sure what payment are you reffering to.
- Oh, you know quite well.
- I do not! We cannot make deals if neither the payment nor the boon is clear and known to both sides, so if you excuse me…

Something was wrong. It was a bit… harder to think. Maenaz vaguely noticed that Euryale wasn’t grinning anymore. After a moment, he was about to go, but the fiend stopped him with a smoldering look.
- You're provoking me, aren't you ?
- What ?

The she-devil begun to walk even closer to him, which given the fact that she didn't keep
her distance earlier at all, this was pretty much invading into his personal space.
He kept backing away until he felt cold stone at his back. She had him against the wall
and she did not intend to stop getting closer at all, grinning as she leaned towards him.
- You must realize... - she said as she put her hands on the wall, both being on
the sides of his head. She was taller than him and the way she stood had his eyes
practically in one line with her leather-clad and partially exposed bust. Her breasts
heaved as she began breathing harder, and he noticed the pause she made.
-... that if you keep going as you did... there's no way I will be able to contain myself...

He was a bit scared, but other feelings were beggining to raise in him.
Excitement?
No. For whatever reason, Euryale was a bit hard to think around… and now, when she was almost pushing herself into him, presenting herself so boldly, for whatever reason, instead of thinking of her as whorish, slutty, he started to think of her as attractive.
She got even closer, with him having to push his head against the wall in order not to be
buried in her cleavage. He looked up at her to notice her grin slowly fade and change into
a far more needy expression.
*Needy*. Yes. The feeling was… Arousal?
- And then, I'd have to do something really naughty, really, really bad, unless you would want
to try something else with me...

Maenaz couldn’t help but realize that it was oh so very hard to think again, that something was wrong, and the rapidly
strengthening and hardening erection he sported since a couple of moments before was
probably at least one reason for it.
-... and go through with it... right... till... the... end...

He shivered and suddenly realized that his fear was just a weak voice somewhere in the
depths of his consciousness, one that kept telling him that if she decides to do something
he probably would have to put a huge effort into stopping her if he did not want it.
But there were more voices telling him to give in, reach out, touch her, take her. A part of him wanted nothing else but to squeeze and bury himself into her unusually large breasts and soft, warm body. Oh yes, he could feel her almost radiating a pleasant heat.
He couldn't remember being in such a cloud-minded lustful state.

She lowered herself a bit giving him a view of her breasts that left nothing to imagination, the leader on her chest wheeping slightly against his armor from time to time, and she
whispered near his ear.
- My, my, you appear to be upset ? Is everything all right ? Or...
Her hand moved and touched his chest, slowly drawing small circles upon it,
which were going lower and lower.
[“She is going to find out. How the hell is this happening… Why am I so… Why am I so hard? She’s unlike any woman I’ve met, and nearly the opposite of most women I’ve been attracted to, so… why?”]
- Do you have a problem I could help you take care of ?

Problem ? As if he didn't have his usual worries, he now had a raging hard-on !
He opened his mouth but no words would come out. her hand was now resting on his abdomen, quite warm and disconcerting, as he in terror realized a growing part of him wanted her to put it lower... Her huge, juicy breasts were spilling out of her black top, each stuffed with pounds on more pounds of flesh. It seemed a bit unnatural, but he found that he DID want to touch them.
- Say it, baby... what's wrong ? Tell me...
- I... I need...
- Yhmmmm ??

Suddenly something in his mind… snapped. He felt a slight twinge, the huge strain on
his willpower that he was taking not to jump on her straight away suddenly gone,
another issue surfacing, something more important making it's way to the top
as she once again demanded he voiced his "problem".
- My... My eyesight !
She pulled her head away and looked at him, surprised.
- Your... eyesight ? What's wrong with your eyesight ?
He twitched. What the hell ? Why did he tell her ?
-I... ever since before I came here with Samael, I had an eyesight condition. But, how...

His eyes widened in understanding. That was somehow explained everything. Since when has she been doing it?
- You forced me ! You used a magical compulsion on me !

Euryale finally backed away, giving him some space.
- I didn't mean to use force to... you know. I wanted you to voice a certain
need that would help you relax and finally go with what we both want. But, it
appears when i used a magical suggestion so you would tell me of your "problem" your
quasimagically - stimulated mind did not catch on the innuendo and instead told me of your
true, bigger problem.
- We... both want ? How do you know what I...
- Drop the subject, don't provoke me further. If you have an eyesight problem, we
should try to solve it, if possible. Explain it to me.

Maenaz just looked at her, a bit angrily. She just used a magical compulsion, and he did not even sense anything. The only more surprising thing was that he couldn’t strain against it, couldn’t defend himself – the compulsion just went through without him even acknowledging it, not to mention being able to fight it.
However, considering she was a member of the Nefarious Seven and already knew that he HAD an eye condition anyway. He might as well ask and squeeze any information she had out of her.
- For quite a long time, I’ve had a certain eyesight problem that does not seem… natural… to me. My eyesight under normal conditions has somewhat worsened, but this isn’t the worst problem.
- Then what is?
- Whenever sometimes uses magical darkness against me, or whenever I enter very deep natural darkness either, the vision in one of my eyes becomes extremely blurry and the other seems clouded by some dark shapes. It appears my eyesight worsens a bit every time such a thing happens. Soon, I won’t be able to see things at all even minutes after leaving magical darkness, and my own eyesight will be several times worse than originally.
- …
- What is it? Do you know what’s wrong with me?
- I think yes, but… It seems unusual, and considering your circumstances of arriving here, it is doubly so.
- Just tell me.
- Fine.You’re under the influence of a very strange and, as far as I know, rare in Toril, force. It’s Taint. You’ve been touched by, and infected with, taint.
- And what is this Taint?
- That’s what the odd part is. Taint is a morphed form of an evil energy type sometimes used in spells, but it also behaves similar to a disease or a poison. Taint can attack both the body, and the mind, or even one’s soul.
- Are you talking about spells like Vile Lance?
- Yes, that’s one of such spells. However, so far as I know, there’s not a whole lot of beings who can control or spread taint. It may be possible to some undead or such things, but mostly, it’s limited to a few fiends in the Lower Planes. The only one of whom you could meet being…
- Samael.
- Yes. And that is the weirdest part. Lord Samael has no interest in incapacitating you, and yet, with the amount you possess and the condition you have being a manifestation of it… This is the only thing the taint is doing. So, unless Lord Samael has some secret plan related to it, this does not make any sense at all.
- Then I believe I will have to deal with *Lord Samael* himself… - Maenaz said, a sudden surge of irony in his voice.
- You might as well consider what are you going to tell him. It’s not like you can threaten him. No one here can.
- I won’t. I just want some answers.
- Wait, before you go…
- Yes? – said Maenaz, a bit fearful of what she, in fact, wanted.
- Take that – she handed him a vial filled with some red powder.
- What is it?
- Those are crushed redflower leaves. It’s a drug, but it has little no no negative effects and low addiction rate, while on the good side, it positively affects eyesight and eye-hand coordination. Take it if your condition becomes desperate during a fight due to that effect of taint. Also, if Heal or Greater Restoration spells are cast on you while you are in full health, they should make the taint slightly recede. However, only Lord Samael Though, if it is only about regaining your eyesight… I could help you, but it’s not so easy.
- I’ll think about it. Thank you, Euryale.
- Don’t “thank” me. Your shitty condition ruined the mood.
He blushed. So, she still expected to…
- We’ll meet again. I can wait a bit longer.
- You’re…
- I don’t want to hear anymore. Go and ask Lord Samael what you meant to.

He turned and walked away from her, a bit quicker than she would have liked.
On all the lords of Hell and all the layers of the Abyss, how much she wanted to have sex right now.
Teasing herself might have not been such a good idea.


Samael just dismissed the large, armored devil Samael saw with Morax before on his mission (he believed they called him an orthon). Maenaz paced past the devil and practically yelled the lord of the Gate’s name.
- Samael!
- I’ve heard the difficulty of the mission was a bit not to your liking, but I did not think you’d get SO angry.
- It’s not the mission! You know exactly what I’m talking about!
- Actually, I do not. You suddenly discovered your soul is worth more, or maybe Neverwinter has been destroyed, and we know nothing about it?
- I’m talking about what you did to me. What you infected me with!
- Apparently, it was bad attitude – Samael said as he rose from his throne. – I can take a little yelling, but you’re pushing it way too far. You’d better show some respect, unless you want to end our deal by being left as bloody remains all over my floor.
- You’re the one who started this. You’re the one that lead me to my condition.
- Just *explain* what are you talking about. *Otherwise* this won’t end very well, mister Warlock-with-a-vendetta.
- You infected me with that shitty “Taint” of yours. And now, I have problems with my sight. Increasingly annoying problems. And I want to hear WHY did you do this.
- What makes you think I did this?
- Because you’ve claimed yourself and this has been confirmed by your own servants that you’re like the one of a couple unique beings who can truly control this shit?
- I am, however, it appears that you’ve failed to consider one other possibility. In fact, I have never tried to give you a Taint infestation nor would I want to, currently. Your condition is your own fault, and I seem to remember advising you to stop doing something that lead to it.

Maenaz shuddered. What was that about?
- What are you reffering to?
- You were having regular sex with a woman that gained her power through being constantly connected to something which was then a giant pool of taint. Because of my power, Valsharess was immune to the physical aspect of the taint and her willpower was too strong to be in any greater measure affected by the mental aspect, anyway, but she still carried it. Lots of it. And while this is pretty extreme and rare, she transferred some of the taint to you during sexual intercourse. It probably wouldn’t happen normally, to the best of my knowledge, but we’re talking about you, Valsharess, and me. Those were not normal circumstances at all.
- … Can you reverse it? Can you remove this taint?
- I failed to hear that.
- I apologize. I wrongly accused you. But I need this condition… gone. I fear about my eyesight.
- Why would I care enough to remove that? You’re just a mercenary. I even advised you NOT to do this. And yet, you did and lead to your own current condition. It’s not even truly a disability, given the fact that Nassirah, Elamash and Cerastes are all impressed with your fighting abilities and power. Therefore, you don’t need to be cured, and it’s a good thing, because it’s a pain in the ass.
- I need this thing GONE!
- And what? You’ll spend a whole wish on it? Surely you’re not so dumb to do it.
- I will not spend a wish on it, but I have to see things clear! This is seriously incapacitating me!
- And yet, you’re not willing to make sacrifices to save your eyesight.
- I am. I just won’t let you have my soul in return for it.
- Then we have a problem, because there is no way I’ll go with all the difficulty of curing you for free, either.
- Then what do you want?
- Your improvement. It’s as easy as that.
- I don’t fucking get it !
- Why would I develop taint if it is only incapacitating a person that has it? In the long run, and if you let it develop, this thing can really make you more powerful. However, it is unlikely, due to the strength of your body, so we’ll stick to the other profitable part.
- I don’t really get it.
- Just think, Maenaz. Think, warlock. If you fight and grow while incapacitated, when that weakness is lifted afterwards, you will be far, far stronger, won’t you? Plus, you will be able to better deal with situations where your eyesight is limited.
- I have no guarantee that I’ll survive, nor that you will help me lift this taint later.
- I will, if you make it worthwile. Let’s say it that way, Maenaz. Do not worry about your eyesight, not yet. I’ll think of something and I will give you an offer that will definitely please you. Moreover, this taint thing – in your current situation, you cannot get rid of that, and it’ll get worse. But in the end, it’ll be worth it.
- Why can’t you just… get rid of it, and we’ll figure out some sort of payment?
- There is a number of reasons. First, I am simply planning your growth. But the more restrictive reason is this – I can infect with taint, spread it, morph it more to my liking, control it to a degree. But healing taint? That’s the domain of a few good guys out there, not an archfiend. You’ll just have to trust me, and I’ll help you get the most out of this situation.
- Trust?
- Oh, stop with this bullshit already. We’re both the villains now, Maenaz. And did I ever let you down? Dissapointed you? Hell, I’ve even pointed out how you may attain MORE power while demanding nothing in return. And so far as I know, all your friends and important ones are currently either dead, missing in action, or serving Neverwinter. So, tell me… you really think there are so many people worthier of your trust? Are you really not willing to throw your lot with me just because of some outdated and overrated teachings of religions that do no longer apply to you? That you do not even believe in? That allowed your dear beloved *Aribeth* to die and denied you a chance to meet her in this life or next, whereas I am helping you avenge her?

Of course. Someone like Samael would always know when to bring Aribeth into a conversation.
What was worse, he was right. The only time Samael fooled him or cheated him was when they fought Valsharess, and that’s only to give him a better deal and free them both from a megalomaniac drow bitch. Moreover, Samael was in a desperate situation – under such circumstances, he was sure humans would lie, cheat, kill and kidnap as well.
It turned out the fiend was more trustworthy than many humans and near-humans he met, and he had the stranger feeling that Samael, for whatever reason, felt a strong sympathy for his desire for revenge.
He was probably doomed and damned anyway. When he thought about it…
What Samael said actually made sense.

- I… will put my trust into you this time. But… do you really think this situation can benefit me?
- It depends on what course of action will we choose with it. Would you consider further harming Neverwinter beneficial to you? Maybe you would consider giving you a new source of power beneficial to you?
- Samael… Why do you go out of your way to help me? Why me? Why even bother? You could have simply left me to be killed by the drow or kill me yourself when Valsharess was gone. So, why?
- Because you’re an incredibly talented mortal who just happens to fit well into a role I need fulfilled. Because you can do things no mortal servant of mine can, and for periods of time and in places no immortal servant of mine could. I have a plan, you see. A way out from my existence of spite and hiding from the forces of Hell while not being fully recognized by the forces of Yugoloths, of Hades and Gehenna. A loop in the hole that are the Planes. And yet, after years of spiting and desiring revenge, I can see pretty well a pale reflection of these ideas and emotions inside your mortal, but extraordinary soul… And as such, I know we can help each other, if you learn to put some faith in me like I did in you.
- What plan are you reffering to? Nassirah mentioned something, but I was not informed of anything…
- I’ll let you in on this after you kill your Neverwinter Nine “friend” and accomplish the next mission for me. I promise, it will be the best time to do it then. For now, just learn what you can with Hebiriel, enchant your weapon, and wait until the first member of the Nine is in a position where you can kill him. It’s just a couple of days.
- One more thing… Since I got “infected” with Taint by having sex with Valsharess… Can I spread it to other people? Through any kind of contact?
- Your level of taint right now is low, and as you probably know, it has only affected your eyes so far. If your level of physical taint becomes high, it can be possible… Unless you learn to control it. And then, it’s a true wonder to deal with.
- It… It’s OK, then. I will leave now and wait until I can meet that Neverwinter Nine member… And I apologise once again.
- It’s fine. Now, go. I need to think over some thinks, including your taint and the best resolution to your eyesight problem.

Maenaz turned away and left. He was getting a feeling that he was walking a dark path, and moving quicker and quicker through it every single day he spent here.

Later, Nassirah sought him out. She asked him to go with her, and lead him to the chambers mostly occupied by Yuan-Ti for a private talk.
- You do know, I suppose – she started – than an average Yuan-Ti, even a rather weak pureblood, is often physically superior to an average human, not to mention nearly always being more intelligent and having a stronger personality as well?
- That may be true… But there are humans that can beat even the strong among the Yuan-Ti, you know.
- To our great lament, this is the truth. Such a human would be far, far luckier and more suited to be a Vrael Olo instead of a mere Scaleless One. And that’s why we’ve found a way to make humans into more… perfect beings, more like us.
- What are you getting at, Nassirah?
- You’re a human, yet your potential is immeasurable, and your power greater than most Yuan-Ti I’ve seen. There are ways in which you could become… partially, a Favored One, more than human, even if usually less than a Yuan-Ti. This combined with your already impressive abilities could give you a great stature among Lord Samael’s worshippers, and even the Gate denizens at large. Whether it’s just a graft like a new limb or something, or a transformation into a Tainted One, which is in every respect a human that is on the way to become a true Yuan-Ti…These things could be done for you, and they could give you strength. I couldn’t orchestrate your ascent to a Tainted One right now, but perhaps something else could be done, or the transformation itself could be allowed to you at a later date.
- I’m flattered that you think highly of me, but I do not want such a thing right now.

She came closer to him, gently stroking his cheek and hair. He was shocked at the gesture, to say the least.
- It’s a waste, if you ask me. To trap such a magnificent power in a human shell… But, I respect your choice. After all, you managed to achieve so much while being slightly handicapped, so it may seem ambitious and proper for you to do such a thing. Perhaps show Yuan-Ti like me that humans are also capable of achieving TRUE greatness.
- Yes, that is partially right.
- Maenaz, I know humans do things differently and I could go through all these games to try and find out your true feelings, but may I be straightforward?
- Sure, if you think it’s fine.
- I have no intention of doing it right now, and there is quite a good chance I never will, but if I ever considered starting a line of Extaminaar, and you by the time would be fit to sire the first generation of it, would you consider making yourself available?

If Maenaz was drinking anything by the time, he was sure he would have choked.
A woman that was verbally abusing him half of the last day was now basically asking him… What?
[“ Oh Maenaz, if I ever consider mingling with filthy, stinking humans, would you start a family with me, please?”]
- You know, Nassirah, from a human’s point of view… It is far too early to ask such a question. And I don’t really think we would hit off well.

She shook her head.
- I disagree. I think for beings with dilluted Yuan-Ti blood, our children might show great promise and potential . That’s the first thing a Yuan-Ti should look to in a mate.
- Well, humans usually look at these things differently. I’m sorry, but I cannot imagine such a situation. At least not now.
- I see. It is quite alright, just makes it even more improbable that I’ll ever start an Extaminaar line. To the best of my knowledge, it would require you to be a Tainted One or at the very least a Broodguard anyway. However, do keep in mind that if you want to increase your power by becoming part Yuan-Ti, such a way exists.
- I will. Farewell, Nassirah.
- Farewell, Maenaz.


In a different Outer Plane, soon after…


The bladeling carried the chest, stepping through the portal to follow his teammate and their leader, the winged, humanlike creature. The cargo he was carrying was extremely precious, and they were leaving their home plane to made sure it did NOT fall into the hands of these dangerous fanatics. Their leader, apparently a dwarven monk, for some reason were really desiring the contents of the chest he was carrying, and as such, it needed to be taken away from them.

The bladeling only hoped they weren’t followed, or if they were, at least not by too strong a force.

Hope, however, is the first thing on the road to dissapointment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's notes :
- Cerastes doesn't exactly look like a typical Banelar Naga.
- Taint is a D&D concept mostly used for "horror" games. I've decided to introduce it, but also make it a very rare phenomenon.
-If you're wondering whether Maenaz is going to bang every single chick that exists in the Gate of Vipers, I'll calm you down and tell you he will make do with just some of them.
-Yes, Xardas was only mentioned in this chapter. He should come back in the next one for a short episode. The bastard's out studying !
-If anybody knew a good fantasy name generator, it'd actually be useful. I've went so far as to describe every single major character in text inside my personal story folder, but some of them are not even named yet! And yes, I almost have the story planned out till the end.
- Next chapter will have some explanations about who's who in the Gate and soem descriptions of yugoloths, which will be used in the story quite a bit extensively for a time.