”No, of course. They’re available to any who might have need of them,” Gamdar answers. He points to the kitchen doorway. ”The basket with what I’ve gathered most recently is in the closet to the left, where the vestments are stored.”

12:35, Today: Labyrinth Lord rolled 1 using 1d6.  Initiative - Party.

12:36, Today: Gamdar rolled 3 using 1d6.  Initiative.

As the attention of some in the kitchen shifts to the indicated closet, Gamdar, demonstrating a surprising degree of athleticism, jumps onto a nearby table and throws himself though the kitchen window, rolling as he hits the muddy ground outside and staggering to his feet. He immediately begins to run, his arms pumping as he starts for the village square, heading south.

OOC: 12:49, Today: Labyrinth Lord rolled 1 using 1d3.  Damage - Glass.

The “acolyte” takes a point of damage from the shattered glass.

The party may act.

Besides the now broken window, there is a door at the rear of the kitchen that leads outside. Alternatively, the party may head for the main doors of the sanctuary, which open directly onto the village square.

To be clear, although Gamdar has started to run, he is only about fifteen feet away from the shrine.

Gamdar has an armor class of 5.

Shaking his head softly, Barnabus clambers outside the kitchen through the conveniently shattered window. Once outside, he squares up and concentrates on arresting the flight of the Gamdar with an invocation of divine aid.

Finally a chance for Mal to spin his web!
Cast Hold Person on Gamdar. -2 save for just having the one target.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:46, Thu 09 Feb 2023.

Even as Gamdar seems to find some momentum for his escape, he abruptly freezes in mid-stride, seized by a sudden paralysis.

Across the square, a pair of caravan drivers regard the unmoving acolyte with curious frowns.

21:41, Today: Gamdar rolled 9 using 1d20-2.  Save vs Spells.

Gamdar will remain held for 9 turns. During that time, he will be unable to take any action, including speech.

The knight's eyes flashed, the look of relief turned to disappointment, then to alarm all in a blink. He rushed to the door, the order to his squire, Andryr, to bring the horses was upon his lips, but then he saw their strange mystical companion muttering and making facial contortions...

Sir Dryvyk was unsure as to the powers Barnabus had at his employ, or if interference would break the spell. He stood ready to tackle the acolyte should binding powers falter.

"Andryr, please fetch a rope from our supplies. Quickly."

"Gamdar, you'd best relent. I have no idea what Barnabus is capable of, but resistance will only make it worse."

Emotions battled within the heart of the young knight whose devotion to his God was sincere and complete. How Gamdar? How could you deceive us so?

Dax dashes for the door, but pulls up when he sees that Barnabus' magicks have frozen Gamdar in place.

"Well done, Barnabus!"

The ranger helps Andryr to truss up the miscreant cleric.

Barnabus admires Dax's feat of ligature, but he had omitted another measure, one to be applied even though Gamdar (and his tongue) had been rendered sessile. Reaching into his pack, he retrieves a few of his moldier rags, having been used previously to wipe away blood, gore, and grave dust.

"Gag'm," he instructs, handing the rags to the forester.

He then turns to Brother Othar and says gently, "You do know his name was nearly an acronym for an appellation for his master?" And that he needed a curate of Impurax to root out corruption within his shrine. He'll be sharing that the next convocation of St. Ygg, alright.

"We will deliver him to Mazzahs' for safekeeping and questioning. Brother Othar, as a fellow protector of Helix, you should participate." You can cozy up with your books and papers when you're done.

Deliver Gamdar to Mazzahs and then go turn over Gamdar's bedsit.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 15:18, Fri 10 Feb 2023.

Malivoire was too slow to effectively aid in the apprehension of Gamdar, bulk of the work done by Barnabus, Dax and Sir Dryvyk.  The mage watched with interest as the trio bound and gagged the priest, lest he work foul magics in an attempt to escape again.  But he wondered how the man had evaded the paladin's detection in the kitchen.

Perhaps there are limitations to the holy senses of our knight, he mused to himself.  Does he only detect immediate evil intent as opposed to a rotten core?  People were complicated, and very few were what Malivoire would consider outright evil all the time.  Perhaps that was a limitation in Sir Dryvyk's ability.  Something they would have to watch out for.

When Barnabus declared they were taking Gamdar to Mazzahs the elf's eyes immediately moved to Brother Othar.  He thought the priest might object, perhaps rightfully feeling this was a church matter more than something arcane.  To Malivoire the 'where' did not matter much, so long as they got answers from the prisoner.

Othar’s usually stoic demeanor has yielded to distress in the wake of Gamdar’s apprehension. The priest offers no opposition to taking the acolyte to Mazzahs.

Upon reaching the spire’s laboratory with their captive, the adventurers find Mazzahs pacing back and forth, muttering quietly to himself, plainly deep in thought. As the company members enter, along with Brother Othar, the wizard snaps out of his contemplations, regarding Gamdar with surprise.

”Truly? Hiding in plain sight, as it were.” Mazzahs supplies a straight backed chair where the false acolyte can be secured.

”Much of this failing rests with me,” Othar says, ”I am generally sensitive to the presence of evil. In fact, I seek to be vigilant for it. I did not ever sense anything sinister with Gamdar. But, I fear I did not look closely enough. My attention has been focused on external threats, keeping the village warded against the undead in the south. I trusted that the northern church had examined him thoroughly.”

“I am truly sorry.”

Mazzahs waves away the priest’s apology. ”We are each doing the best we are able. There is no end to the cleverness of those of evil intent. Each time we encounter darkness, we must endeavor to learn its ways, to be better prepared for future conflicts.”

The wizard prepares to remove the gag, but stops himself. Glancing back at the gathered adventurers, he asks, ”How did you come to determine that Orcus’ agent was Gamdar?”

Animatedly, Barnabus launches into a response: "They are fiendishly clever. Too much so for their own good. Consider the pride of this one: growing and growing with each day spent under our nose."

"Mazzahs, you ask how we came to know that he was Orcus's ram lamb?" the curate rhetorically states, having slipped into the role of pedant in his excitement. "He exposed himself with his cover story, pocked with so many holes so as to not even warrant being called threadbare. He had been seen, you see, skulking about at night. The span of his shoulders and his taste in footwear had also been noted, you will note."

The lecturer turns to face the gagged and bound cultist, his tone lapsing into condescension: "If you'd only had a decent cover, you might have bought yourself some time to slip sway. You don't think that I, a priest of Impurax, don't know a fig about the local fauna? Healing herbs harvested by the light of the moon? I think not. Would not Brother Othar have noted the success of your remedies? I should think so."

"Such hubris," he continues, losing himself in his monologue, "so typical from the likes of you. We destroyed your crypt thing, your shadows, your priests -- we have disinterred the whole bloody lot of them for our casual perusal."

"Who do you think will be wearing that suit of leather?" he says with mockery.

Here, he remembers himself.

"Speaking of which, Ishmael, please search Gamdar and relieve him of any of his devices, one of which might have served to conceal his true nature."

"But, really, Mazzahs, it came down to his ultimate act of pride: naming himself after Orcus.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:16, Fri 10 Feb 2023.

"No need to apologise, Brother Othar. You, along with Mazzahs, dealt with a demon in short order. You both protect the town. Being deceived by one like him is not a failing."

Dax then falls silent as Barnabus launches into his near incomprehensible explanation.

Sir Dryvyk stood brooding near Brother Othar. He wasn't sure what to say, if anything. He responded to the obviously upset curate. "I too am usually able to detect the presence of evil. The gifts granted me by God are precious and I seek always to be worthy of them."

The young knight gestured in the direction of the swamplands, "In yonder moor, I can feel the presence of such ilk from twenty paces! But this acolyte, well, I've detected nothing of the sort. So either I've lost my gifts... this lad's particularly adept at hiding it... or he's simply a pawn, a subject of something more powerful, whose stench I cannot smell even in its presence."

"Master Mazzahs, Gamdar fled from us, a desperate act. He should answer for his actions. It is written that evil subjects those who dabble in it, they become slaves to vice and guilt in an ever downward spiral. Something has compelled this lad, we would do well do discover what it is."

Ishmael pads down the acolyte in short order, turn over his pockets and pouches.  "I'll go check his room and study." he offers.

Malivoire raised an eyebrow as Barnabus embellished the story of Gamdar's detection and apprehension, but he trusted Mazzahs to see through the window dressing and to the heart of the matter.  Gamdar certainly had something serious to hide, even if he wasn't an agent of Orcus.  Hopefully between the master wizard and Brother Othar the truth would out quickly.

Ishmael quickly searches the still paralyzed Gamdar. The young man carries little. In the lone pouch that the acolyte has on his belt, Ishmael finds four silver coins, a worn piece of parchment with the word “Azeris” written on it, and a thin chain of dark metal, from which hangs a triangular charm inscribed with many arrows traveling away from a central point.


Mazzahs takes particular interest in the amulet when it is passed to him. Studying it, he nods solemnly and says, ”It is by way of this that he was able to conceal his true nature from the village.”

The wizard places his hand on Gamdar’s head and speaks a few words. The young man is suddenly loosed from his frozen state and begins struggling uselessly against his bonds. Looking to the adventurers, Mazzahs says, ”Perhaps you have questions you wish to pose to him first? You are the ones who identified him, after all.”

As he asks the question, the wizard removes the prisoner’s gag.

Sir Dryvyk gasped as the charm was removed and then bit back a curse Ol' Gib would have been proud of, but was certainly unbecoming of a knight, especially in the presence of Brother Othar and the ladies.

"In light of this, Ishmael shouldn't go alone. Andryr would you please accompany him? If you should spot Ol' Gib on the way, take him and Ranger with you.".

Then the young knight drew his sword and rested it point on the floor, no telling what further surprises might become manifest...

"As a knight of St. Ygg, I'm sworn to destroy evil. Your deception has offended my sense of empathy. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. At a word from our host and patron, or from Brother Othar, I will gladly dispatch you. Until that moment, think very hard and see if you can find something useful to say for yourself."

"Who in the Barrow is your master?"

Barnabus retrieves one of the many parchments from his pack, this one with the beginnings of a map of the barrows: "Add to this. Use your words."

He points to the word on Gamdar's parchment: "What does this signify?"

"Who are those within the Tomb of Nildayr?" he asks.

The last things the detective curate demands to know are the details of his criminal operation and how long before his "broad shoulders and loping gait" will be missed.

"Naturally, Mazzahs is telepathic so give up on the lies. He's just being considerate by giving us first dibs."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

Gamdar glares sullenly at Sir Dryvyk as the knight addresses him, but says nothing.

”I serve the high priests of Orcus,” Gamdar tells Dax, ”We seek the means to ensure the mighty one’s ascension to rulership over the underworld, and over all of the dead who linger on this plane. We fight against the servants of Set, who would seek to claim what is not rightfully theirs. And we struggle against Varghoulis, who would claim the tombs for his own, in the name of his perished deity.”

Gamdar dictates a few instructions to Barnabus, expanding on the map that the cleric has shown him.

”It is a word that must be spoken to access a hidden vault within the catacombs. A magical means of opening the door,”</darkgreen> he replies, in answer to Barnabus’ question about the parchment Ishmael found on his person.

The young man frowns momentarily as he considers the next question, then shakes his head, ”That tomb is a ruse. A clever deception intended to capture tomb robbers intent on plundering the maze. There is no one interred there.”

His eyes cut over to the amulet in Mazzahs’ hand, then back to Barnabus. ”They will know when the charm leaves my possession. Its absence will inform them that my true purpose has been revealed.”
This message was last edited by the player at 15:17, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

"The moment it separates from your body," Baranbus postulates, returning the charm to Gamdar's person. "Or might small lapses go unnoticed?"

"Tell us more about the secret vault. Does it have any protections beyond the password?"

But in the next breath, he exclaims, "But, I mean, really, traipsing about with the word itself? You're just inviting the next band of tomb raiders to plunder it."

"You do know this area is lousy with such miscreants?"

"How did you lure your victims to the maze? Gambling debts?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:03, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

”I was directed to the chamber through correspondence,” Gamdar says, ”The word gives entrance to what appears to be a sealed tomb. I am told there is a guardian, but I have never seen or encountered it. It was told of me before I first visited the vault.”

“I lured them to the swamplands with numerous false promises. Most involved wealth. There were many who frequented The Foul Pheasant who were infected with greed.”

When Barnabus returns the amulet, Gamdar exclaims, ”No! Do not…” As the charm touches the imposter once more, it briefly shimmers with a crimson light. Gamdar regards it fearfully, but aside from the transitory glow, nothing further occurs.
This message was last updated by the player at 21:35, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

Barnabus marvels. With every mystery dissected, another sprang to life.

"Alright, then. We're off to your flat. I expect Mazzahs will keep you for a spell, with a spell, or for spell components. It's all the same to me."

Off to the digs of Gamdar.

"Wait," Malivoire said, as Barnabus breezed past Gamdar's last protest.  "Why not hand you back the amulet?" he asked, turning on the evil priest. "What were you afraid of?"

The brief glow that had shimmered over the surface of the charm had not been lost on Malivoire.  He wanted to know the significance, in case it mattered more than it might appear.

 Dilemma speaks next.  "Yes... What magics are woven into this amulet?" She pauses for a beat, and then continues.  "Tell us or not, we'll find out eventually, although additional context always helps and might even entitle you to a last meal."

 Reaching back to stroke Charley and looking Gamdar in the eyes, she says, "It's very striking, don't you think?  I wonder if we couldn't get someone to purge the magics from it and work it into your collar..." Charley looks at the priest and makes a chirping noise.