Ahead of the Storm - Day 14

Magepoint, Five Months Ago

Dear Meerthan,

It is a pleasure to finally hear from you - I have heard a great many things about you, through our mutual friend Verodemocrium. Though it is a shame our first discussion has to touch upon such a terrible topic. I'm sure that you know as well as I that the fabled Demonomicon of Iggwilv bears with it a terrible legacy - that any who claim possession of one of the six copies of the tome is cursed to deadly misfortune, usually soon to fall prey to a horrible death.

Yet you also speak true, in that if you need to learn more about the Demon Lords who rule the Abyss, there is no great repository of knowledge and discussion about their histories, natures, personalities - and dirty little secrets. Indeed, the Witch Queen of Perrenland, Iggwilv, has done well to secure her own survival by threatening to share many darker and currently unknown secrets of the Demon Lords, should they ever threaten her in any way. By what means she gathered all these secrets in the first play is still a great mystery, though many believe it is through her own personal network of spies who have infiltrated the highest ranks of many a Demon Lord's kingdom.

In any case, such a book would surely be of great use to you in learning about Orbius's particular demonic obsessions - these 17 names you have uncovered. Yet, actually gaining access to one is quite the tricky matter. However, I do have some leads.

The most promising of these leads pertains to the remote trade town of Krestible, on the outskirts of the Witch Queen's territory. My contacts have reported to me that the local constabulary recently raided a worn-down warehouse which had been reported for late-night noise and disturbances. What the constable found there, however, was not any form of group or cult - but rather a scene of undescribable carnage and gore - with at its center on the floor of the warehouse a black leather-bound tome. Upon examination by wizards in the town guards' employ, it was identified as one of the six copies of the Demonomicon, and placed under strict watch in the dungeon, until is has undergone further study. In the weeks since, however, rumors hold that the townspeople have been plagued by dark evening visions and that the city's streets come alive at night with twisted otherworldly forms.

It is my belief that we would be doing the people of Krestible a great service by relieving them of the burden of the Demonomicon, do you not agree? For this purpose, I have therefore assembled an elite task force, well-versed in the Dark Arts and necromantic trickery, for the purpose of slipping into Krestible largely unnoticed, to retrieve the book and bring it back to me for consultation in the matter of these 17 Demon Lords you wish to know about.

I trust you will approve of my choice of adventurers for this special mission: Scatterspells, Soulerio and Eadfrid. I have no doubt that they will retrieve the book without trouble. In fact, Scatterspells in particular seems greatly excited about getting out of Cauldron and back into action for a bit. Soulerio still seems a bit rattled by the events of the war against Kyuss, though he also seems intrigued by the possible knowledge contained in the Demonomicon. As for Eadfrid, well Scatterspells has him easily convinced - and it is possible that his particular undead traits will be of use in protecting him from some of the book's dark magic.

Thus, I send them off tonight - hopefully they shall return successful. Then, you and I can work together with them and some of the Arcane Obelisk's leading professors to piece together a full biography for each of the 17 Demon Lords that were the center of Orbius' obsession. And even if this proves not to be all that relevant to learning about his future plans, the knowledge itself is certain to be quite fascinating.

So, best of luck to us all - I hope to report back to you soon with further good news.

Sincerely,

Manzorian