Okay, that didn't go as planned

[Smiling Jack]

I'm thinking that trying to access the pirate cove using the same point of entry may be a bit foolhardy.  It will probably be pretty well guarded now, if not blocked up completely.  Maybe my contacts can suggest an alternate entry, or maybe we can follow one of the known slavers from the docks to a new entrance.  Maybe someone knows who crazy old lightning hands is.  We can only assume he does some kind of business above ground.  I'm just trying to throw out some ideas because it seems to me that going back the way we just came is a suicide mission.  Sure, we could argue about it, but it's really just a moot point, innit?

[Nazurahei]

I'm thinking that trying to access the pirate cove using the same point of entry may be a bit foolhardy.  It will probably be pretty well guarded now, if not blocked up completely.  Maybe my contacts can suggest an alternate entry, or maybe we can follow one of the known slavers from the docks to a new entrance.  Maybe someone knows who crazy old lightning hands is.  We can only assume he does some kind of business above ground.  I'm just trying to throw out some ideas because it seems to me that going back the way we just came is a suicide mission.  Sure, we could argue about it, but it's really just a moot point, innit?

I may have some darkness, ooops, I mean light I can shed on the old mage.

[Smiling Jack]

If we know who he is, maybe we can either subdue him up top or take him out.  We hin can be very effective assassins.

[Nazurahei]

If we know who he is, maybe we can either subdue him up top or take him out.  We hin can be very effective assassins.

I'm not sure how fruitful that will be. But here's what I know.

Azrod the Undying, like most people who engage in the art of scribery... oops, I mean necromancy... is very private. I've only met him twice, and those meetings were through my mentor, Uhl. Like most people I met through Uhl, Azrod was quite secretive. I have no idea where he resides, whether it's within or below Waterdeep.

I do suspect Azrdod plans on becoming a lich, and that transformation has likely begun already. My thought is that if he is working for slavers, they are not run-of-the-mill slavers. The likelihood of slavers having anything of any value to a mage of his stature is very slight. 
 
And before you ask, I don't know where my mentor now resides -- or whether he's even alive or dead -- so that avenue of inquiry has been closed off. Some of our cleric's good friends saw to that Uhl was either killed or run out of town, so we can thank he and the rest the Bloodthirsty Butchers for Torm for limiting our options here.

Just as an aside, didn't Eyecutta know the half-orc who was on the other side of the big, zombie-filled room? And doesn't the hin know some of the hin assassins that have gone missing. Seems strange that so many people we know are somehow involved in this conspiracy.

[Náriël Telemnar]

"Bloody Butchers for Torm"...sounds like I need a new T-shirt.

[Nazurahei]

Bloody butchers indeed
Perhaps, priest, an explanation is what you need

(Nazurahei moves to center stage as the music swells.)

ALONE IN MY NECROMANCY (Sung to the tune of “Alone Again Naturally” by Gilbert O’ Sullivan)

After that deadly encounter
With a mage of mighty power
I’m wishing I still knew someone who
Could give us a clue to devour
I’m thinking about history
When I was a necro’s mentee
That tutor of mine knew old Azrod
So I wish he was still here for me
But Torm’s mob overtook his home
Leaving me on my own
No point in more inquiry
It seems quite clear to me
We don’t really have a clue
Not much more I can do
Alone in my necromancy

It seems like only yesterday
I was surrounded by lovely decay
Stitching corpses in his lab seemed so fab
How I wished that I could stay
When I was there, Azrod came around
So he must live somewhere in town
If Uhl was still here, it seems quite clear
He’d know where the mage could be found
But to Torm it’s all black and white
Not a shade of gray in sight
I had no choice but to save my skin
Wish I knew what became of him
Alone in my necromancy

It seems to me that there are more stones unturned in the world than we can upend
I’m without a friend
What do we do?
What do we do?

Alone in my necromancy

Now looking back over the campaign
And I’m singing an orphan’s refrain
I remember I cried when my father died
I wandered the graveyard in the rain
Taken in by a kindly soul
Learned skills of undead control
Couldn’t understand why Torm’s angry band
Wanted his head on a pole
So now we’re stuck without an ally
To help us find this Azrod guy
We’ll twiddle our thumbs all the day
There’s not much more I can say
Alone in my necromancy
Alone in my necromancy

[Smiling Jack]

You're going to kill the cleric while he's sleeping aren't you.  You're just waiting untill you have the skills to raise him.  You're going to kill him, and you're going to make his undead corpse fight his own people.

All I wanted to do was help the community.

[Nazurahei]

You're going to kill the cleric while he's sleeping aren't you.  You're just waiting untill you have the skills to raise him.  You're going to kill him, and you're going to make his undead corpse fight his own people.

All I wanted to do was help the community.

Don't be absurd. Only someone truly evil would do that.

[Smiling Jack]

And doesn't the hin know some of the hin assassins that have gone missing.

By the way, I don't know these guys, I just know of these guys. The reason I have heard of them is because violent, pre-paid, hin-on-hin action is extremely rare.  And before you jest, at least I said hin-on-hin.  If you must make sex jokes, at least look to the dwarf.  Dwarf-on-sock, dwarf-on-goat, Dwarf-on-dustbuster-with-the-corner-attachment...  Those filthy things will stick their dicks in anything but a condom.

[Náriël Telemnar]

But to Torm it’s all black and white
Not a shade of gray in sight
I had no choice but to save my skin
Wish I knew what became of him
Alone in my necromancy

It seems to me that there are more stones unturned in the world than we can upend
I’m without a friend
What do we do?
...

Couldn’t understand why Torm’s angry band
Wanted his head on a pole
So now we’re stuck without an ally
To help us find this Azrod guy
...

Perhaps I could inquire of my fellow clergymen and find out what became of Uhl...whether he was killed outright, imprisoned or forced into exile.

DM: I inquire of my fellow clergymen to find out what became of Uhl...whether he was killed outright, imprisoned or forced into exile.

[Smiling Jack]

So who else do you all kill?  Just necromancers?  Or is it anyone you don't agree with?  Do followers of the other gods need to fear the clergy of Torm?  Many of my neighbors do not follow him.  One of the beautiful things about our district is the melting pot of peoples and cultures that reside there.  I never knew that my friend the Deacon posed such a threat to that life.  Killing us isn't how you're going to get promoted beyond lickspittle is it?

[Smiling Jack]

Kill Who You Like  (to the tune of "Do What You Like" by...  wait...  wait for it...  Blind Faith!)

Torm's sight, in your head, everybody must be dead
Get them together, blood must be shed, yes, together, that's what I said
Kill who you like
Torm's might
Don't fight, streets run red, it's all right every night
Kill who you like
That's what I said
His blood lust must be fed
Kill who you like
Open your eyes, they are all already dead
Take a look at Torm's good book
Kill who you like
That's what I said
Kill who you like
Torm's sight, in your head, everybody must be dead
Get them together, blood must be shed, yes, together, that's what I said
Kill who you like
Open your eyes, use your head, they are all already dead
Take a look at Torm's good book, let them cook
That's what I said
Kill who you like

[Náriël Telemnar]

And the funny thing is that it doesn't look like the Tormites had anything to do with running Uhl out of town. I asked at the temple and they knew nothing about it. The uninformed like to go around slandering the name of Torm and all of the good works of his devoted followers.

[Smiling Jack]

Oh yes, you asked at the temple about the missing master of Nazurahai.  And then you--a follower of the god of duty, loyalty and obedience--came back and told us exactly what the priest said to you.  That's probably what happened.

Hey, it wasn't my master that the priests of Torm killed.  I actually don't even need to have a master.

By the way, if Torm is a member of the House of the Triad, does that make you the blackula hunter?

[Náriël Telemnar]

Oh yes, you asked at the temple about the missing master of Nazurahai.  And then you--a follower of the god of duty, loyalty and obedience--came back and told us exactly what the priest said to you.  That's probably what happened.

Well, you were sitting at the same table I was when I heard the info regarding my dead end query. I didn't think I needed to roleplay letting you know that I found out nothing.