Sigil: City of Doors

(( Imagine this being read by a film noir narrator))

Ostellius encountered the woman on a narrow street near the Hive Ward. She seemed to be running while frantically trying to keep an eye out in all directions. When she saw him, she stopped. She seemed upset, confused, and vulnerable. Possibly, a good mark. He turned on the charm and approached with a gentle, "Hello. Are you lost?"

She recognized him and said his name. Bah! His accursed memory still was not back to normal. No wonder she looked familiar, he had met her but a day before talking to S'vaya outside the inn. Deri. The name finally came to him. Beyond that he did not know much about her. Apparently, their casual acquaintance, his good looks, and offer to help eased her fears some. Still, she seemed quite vigilant.

Trusting that it would further relax her, he offered to help her. He also suggested that they find somewhere safer to talk. She appeared to assess him and ignored his suggestion of a safer place to talk (perhaps she felt that she had more flight options on the public street). In the conversation that ensued, he learned that she had recently escaped from a Lich with the help of three people: Salazar and two names he did not recognize. Clearly, there was more to this woman than his initial appraisal. He reiterated his suggestion of a more secure place to talk.

He thought about his encounters with Salazar. He had sold some pretty good magic items to Ostellius at a fair price shortly after Ostellius first found himself in the cage with no recollection of how he came to be there. Later, Salazar had shown him a portal to a portion of hell, and they had briefly explored there. Salazar was definitely not the sort of person with whom you would want to cross weapons. He was some sort of bard - his songs had definitely inspired Ostellius to fight with more skill than he usually felt. However, he seemed to be more than a bard. He had summoned a powerful undead minion in the hell plane using magic that Ostellius did not recognize. Regardless, Ostellius did not want to find himself on the wrong side of a man who seemed to regard the hell spawn as mere annoyances.

He learned that the lich had not been destroyed because Deri's rescuers had been unable to find his phylactery. He learned that Deri's sister (hmmm, he did not know her name, was she one of the rescuers?) had been turned against her. He learned that Deri believed that the lich's minion Urcin had been disposed of by Arvolexia.

Thinking that a common ally would help to build a bridge between him and Deri, he mentioned that he knew Arvolexia. Deri's response was far from what he expected - she immediately became more suspicious of him. He backtracked explaining that he had merely explored the beastlands some with Arvolexia when they both happened to be going that direction and that he did not know her well. Perhaps, Ostellius would be able to gain some advantage through his knowledge of some sort of animosity between the two.

Ostellius knew that he would want to investigate this lich. The possibility of a lich's horde of magical items and lore was like a flame to his mental moth. He strongly wished that he had recovered enough the powers he *knew* he once had to confront the lich alone. Soon. His powers were steadily returning. He would recover them all and determine how he came to Sigil. At some point, he would destroy this lich and take whatever magic he could find.

He volunteered to help Deri find the Lich's phylactery. He figured that this gambit should at least reveal what knowledge she had about the lich. As Deri was quizzing him about his capabilities, Salazar appeared in the alley with a goblin. Deri seemed to relax a tad at the sight of Salazar, but seemed somewhat upset by the appearance of the goblin. Apparently, the goblin was someone named Marius (one of the rescuers?) in a disguise that Deri believed inadequate. Ostellius also ascertained that Deri's sister's name was Nastasia and that the others believed that her loss was a significant blow to their chances against the lich.

A short discussion ensued. Quickly, they decided to head to a more secure location to talk. A seeming confirmation that Deri did not yet trust him enough to find herself alone with him. Ostellius was rather pleased with himself that he was able to worm his way into this group. He still was rather charming. Of course, the other possibility that had to be considered was that the whole situation was a trap. He was well aware of the common scam of using a seemingly vulnerable female to lure an unsuspecting male to his doom. He mostly dismissed this possibility on the basis that Salazar could easily have finished him off on the hell plane before - the ruse was an unnecessary extravagance.

Still he wondered about the motives of Salazar and Marius. He inherently distrusted altruism, but recognized that some people (although generally not the sort of people that casually summon the undead) were genuinely motivated by it. He would keep a vigilant eye on the two of them until he had a better sense of their motives.

The discussion continued at their more secure location. Ostellius learned that Deri expected to meet with a contact that had more information about the lich. He also learned that the Lich was named Zoren and that he had come to Sigil. This data would be helpful. Perhaps he could uncover information about someone named Zoren in the Hall of Records that might suggest locations to investigate.

It soon became apparent that Deri did not completely trust her contact. Ostellius suggested that he become invisible in order to help gain the upper hand if the meeting went poorly. Soon the contact arrived. He was a water genasi named Garles.

Ostellius watched closely as Garles surveyed the room upon his arrival. As his eyes passed over the spot where Ostellius stood, Ostellius observed a slight flaring of the nostrils, a dilation of the pupils, and perking of the ears. Ostellius did not doubt that the man was aware of his presence, but Garles did not otherwise betray this knowledge so Ostellius let the situation remain the same.

When Garles pointed out Deri's decision not to introduce Salazar and the goblin, the goblin loudly introduced himself as Marius. Ostellius chose this moment to test his supposition about Garles' knowledge of his presence by stifling a very quiet laugh. Garles self control was impressive - only a very slight smile crossed his lips, his head did not turn towards Ostellius at all. A casual observer might of thought that the smile was a response to the goblins introduction. Ostellius, however, was cognizant of the delay between the goblin's outburst and Garles' smile.

Salazar and Deri proceeded to interrogate Garles. He disclosed that the lich had another minion and that this minion was living in a village in Under Sigil. Ostellius had recently conducted a rather thorough survey of Under Sigil. He knew of a village there, but when he had explored it the village had been quite abandoned. Similarly, Garles description of the lich's minion was vague at best: a male human with dark complexion and hair. The whole situation seemed like a good setup for a trap. A way to lure the unsuspecting to a dark isolated area. Garles description was virtually useless - it matched half of the human males in Sigil including Ostellius. Salazar pointed out the vagueness of the description, but Garles mostly ignored this criticism. The discussion continued, but nothing important was revealed.

Eventually, Ostellius tired of being unable to ask his own questions. He wanted to know more about the lich's minion. Still invisible, he asked Garles for more details about his appearance. Garles, non-plussed, asked, "So I am allowed to acknowledge your presence now?" Ostellius, seething a bit internally at the non-responsive nature of this question nevertheless answered it, "We both know that you knew I was here. I have been to the village you described and it was abandoned. The only living things I encountered were mushrooms."

Garles did not have additional information. Apparently, Garles believed that the man's choice of residence would be enough to reveal him. Eventually, Deri thanked him for his information and asked him to put the charges on her tab. Garles did not seem enthusiastic about this prospect. He clearly did not believe that Deri was likely to live long enough to settle her tab.

As Garles left, Ostellius resisted the urge to follow him. That would have to wait until Ostellius discovered some way around the ward that allowed Garles to discover him. Perhaps, Ostellius would get one of his acquaintances to follow him. Ceszar almost certainly would have the skills to do it, if Ostellius could think of some way to motivate him. Unfortunately, Garles was the wrong gender to hold Ceszar's attention for long unless there was likely to be a big payoff. Ostellius doubted Garles would be worth paying Ceszar any sort of real money.

Soon after Garles left, Deri called Salazar over for a private conversation. Ostellius took this opportunity to try to learn more about the goblin, Marius. He knelt down to observe the goblin near eye height and began to ask him about the unusual mask he was wearing. Marius claimed that the mask was just plain wood with ordinary rocks set into it. He said that a similar mask could be purchased in the great bazaar. Clearly, there was more to the goblin than Ostellius had been able to suss out to this point. The chief questions were, "How was he tied to Deri? How did he contribute to her rescue? And was he really even a goblin?"

While he was talking to the goblin, Ostellius tried his best to keep his eye on Deri and Salazar. At one point, he saw what appeared to be a genuine smile cross Deri's face, an expression he had not previously observed from her. He wondered if perhaps Salazar's connection to Deri was romantic. Such an explanation might account for some of the incongruities he thought he had observed so far.

Some time later, Deri and Salazar's conversation ended. At this point, Deri announced that Ostellius could help her by looking for the object they had discussed earlier. Salazar stated that he would accompany Ostellius to the village in Under Sigil the next day after they had rested.

Ostellius's excitement at the prospect of finally finding something to distract him was tempered by his realization that with his still shaky memory, he was not certain that he could quickly find the Under Sigil village again. He realized that he might have to forgo some sleep in order to do some advanced reconnoitering in order to hide this frailty from Salazar.

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((to be continued))
((Ostellius has maximized charisma for a human of his level so most people find him to be pretty charming))
((sorry about the wall of text - had a lot to say, hopefully I haven't omitted any crucial details))

Ostellius needed more information. He would have to take chances. Which contacts could he get information from?

He started by talking to Ceszar. The man was sneaky and did not appear trustworthy in the least. The very sort of man that would sell information to a person like Ostellius. The question was whether he had information worth selling. Also, there was the issue of broaching the subject without giving Ceszar information for free.

Ostellius knew that S'vaya was probably connected to some of the issues. He had seen her talking quietly with Deri. He also knew that she and Ceszar were openly hostile to each other. Perhaps Ceszar would be willing to work with Ostellius to secure information from S'vaya.

When Ostellius broached the subject of S'vaya with Ceszar, Ceszar was immediately interested and seemingly suspicious of Ostellius. After some discussion, they formed the plan of attempting to meet and trap S'vaya alone in her room at the Hammer. Ostellius was not sure who was acting as the muscle for whom in this meeting. Ceszar definitely had his own agenda with the woman. It mattered not to Ostellius. He assumed that he would be able to ask his questions before Ceszar did whatever he intended to do.

Ostellius knew he had some time before S'vaya would return to her room. Now was the time to formulate his interrogation strategy. He did not want to give away his information without receiving something in return. He also could not be certain of S'vaya's loyalties. The key would be to feed her believable disinformation. Yet, he would have to be able to keep his story straight. Knowing that kernels of truth would go a long way towards making his story believable, he hit upon a plan. He would take his knowledge of Arvolexia's involvement in the disappearance of Urcin and substitute S'vaya for her.

This plan had advantages as well as risks. Among the advantages, he should be able to keep his story consistent. Also, if his mistruth became uncovered, he should at least be able to claim that he had confused the two women. He felt that there were at least enough similarities between them that he would at worse seem a naive bumbler. This defense should at least provide some cover if S'vaya proved to be closely allied with Deri and her companions. Another advantage might be found in the confusion that his misinformation created. If S'vaya had only a weak allegiance to Deri, then his story might lead her to question their loyalties.

The plan had some distinct risks though. If S'vaya was a loyal and trusted member of Deri's cabal, then he could be destroying any foothold he might have achieved there. Also, if his information proved to be too inaccurate, S'vaya might recognize its falsehood and seize upon that moment to feed bad information back to him.

He would have to be ready to adapt his plan on the fly. He loathed the idea of giving away any information without a guaranteed payback, but he was well aware of the adage that one must spend money to make money. If S'vaya provided useful information, then perhaps some day he could reveal his deception.

This was a dangerous game to play. He was confident that Deri could have him destroyed. Salazar seemed quite capable of accomplishing such a mission without even breaking a sweat. Also, something about Salazar made Ostellius think that crushing his foes was the sort of activity he might particularly relish.

Soon Ostellius went to the second floor of the inn to meet Ceszar and prepare for S'vaya's arrival. He and Ceszar met and decided that they would slip into her room while invisible and confront her there.

S'vaya soon arrived accompanied by someone that Ceszar had identified as Bael. This was an unforeseen complication, and Ostellius was not sure how he and Ceszar would handle it. Fortunately, S'vaya soon made clear her intention of leaving Bael at the door. Ostellius slipped into her room and waited.

Soon S'vaya came into the room alone. Ostellius waited briefly to see if Ceszar would act. He was not even certain, if Ceszar was in the room. After a few moments, he grew tired of waiting and dispelled his invisibility. He then announced his presence, "Hello, S'vaya."

She whirled around looking surprised and dangerous. Immediately, Ceszar materialized behind her glaring at Ostellius. Ostellius thought to himself, "Well, maybe next time you'll listen to me when I suggest agreeing upon a strategy prior to acting."

Ceszar announced that he was there to warn her about a danger that threatened the two of them. Ceszar then began speaking to her in the Infernal tongue apparently believing that this would keep their conversation private. Ostellius chose not to disabuse them of this notion. Instead, he observed their proceedings snickering to himself a little that the idea that a warlock with a clear interest in information gathering would not know the tongue necessary to communicate with the hellspawn that so often held information.

Soon it became apparent to Ostellius that the visit would not be a waste regardless of the results of his own interrogation. He learned that Ceszar believed that S'vaya was his sister and that their father was a recently deceased general who had led an army that had cleared the 759th layer of the Abyss. Ostellius scoffed a little about this claim since most naive school children on the Prime knew that the Abyss contained only 666 layers. He supposed that the "759th layer" might be some sort of intentional misnomer and decided to let it go.

He also learned that Ceszar thought that he and S'vaya had two other deceased siblings and that the cult of demon worshippers that had slain their father was interested in spilling their blood. Ostellius scrutinized the two. There were, of course, some similarities between their appearances, but the substantial differences made Ostellius think that at most they could be half siblings. Ostellius also doubted that their bloodline would be limited to just four siblings given the predilictions of most devils. Ostellius supposed that the father might have preferred members of his own gender.

Still, Ostellius could think of no reason why Ceszar would compose such a fanciful story unless he feared S'vaya was soon going to act on her animosity and dispose of Ceszar. In such a situation, Ceszar's story might be a desperate gambit to win favor and buy time.

Ceszar was concerned that the cult hunted S'vaya and offered to protect her. He offered her any of his magic items that she might need. He also insisted that she not accept gifts from strangers. Ostellius found the juxtaposition of the offers somewhat ironic.

S'vaya revealed that she had been given a parchment dripping with blood by a gnome. And that this scroll had been seized by Merem. Ceszar definitely wanted to pursue this lead. He claimed that he could destroy this scroll. Ostellius also wanted to investigate this further. He realized that there could be many feints operating upon the situation. Ceszar might have sent the scroll himself to boost his credibility. S'vaya might have made up the existence of the scroll in order to have an opportunity to later pass such an item onto Ceszar as a trap. They might both be aware that Ostellius could understand them, and the scroll might be some sort of trap intended for him - either to test his comprehension, his loyalty, or achieve some more sinister purpose. S'vaya also could be telling the truth.

Ostellius wondered what gambit he could use to investigate the scroll. He also wondered if Merem still had it. He also wondered if he could locate the gnome that had been the source of the scroll. He would definitely have to research Ceszar's bloodline to investigate the truth of his claims. Perhaps he could also investigate this cult.

Ceszar then told S'vaya in Common that he would insure that she came to no harm. Ostellius took this opportunity to complain that Ceszar was undercutting his negotiating position - a statement Ostellius felt would help hide his comprehension of the earlier conversation. Ceszar rebuked him for this comment.

Ceszar then turned invisible and left. Although Ostellius was not sure if he actually left. The door opened and closed. That sight made Ostellius consider the possibility that perhaps the three of them were not the only people in the room. He dismissed this thought as a paranoid delusion, but resolved to invest in some scrying protection.
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((to be continued...))

Ostellius was tempted to take the information that he had learned and flee. Interrogations necessarily posed the risk of revealing more information by the question than was gained in the answer. Still he needed to know more about the lich and opted to take the risk. His small alterations to his knowledge should keep the information he parted with from being too valuable. The downside of course being that the information received could also be defective as a result. Indeed, his misinformation might disrupt his potential allies.

He suggested to S'vaya that just because they seemed to be alone, the possibility existed that someone such as Ceszar still remained. S'vaya considered this possibility. He recognized that she cast a scrying invocation. She stated that she believed that they were alone. Then to be on the safe side, she cast a spell that summoned frozen tentacles to assault anyone in the room warning Ostellius that the experience might be painful.

He began questioning S'vaya. He set out some of the information that he knew - Deri had been kidnapped by a lich and subsequently rescued. A man named Urcin had disappeared. Deri suspected that S'vaya (rather than Arvolexia) had been involved in his disappearance.

S'vaya's answers to his questions seemed very guarded. He did learn a few things. She did admit to knowing the lich. Her grammar was ambiguous though - he could not be certain if she actually knew the lich or merely knew of him. He would probably need to monitor her activities to see if she had some means of making contact with the lich. He decided that he would also investigate her companion - Bael, Ceszar had named him.

He was disappointed with the results of his questioning. He felt that he had divulged more than he intended and had not learned nearly enough to justify it. He still could not tell how closely aligned S'vaya was with Deri.

He did inform S'vaya that he was looking for the phylactery and that he had not yet decided which side he was helping. He did make a point of stating that he doubted that he would ever be able to trust a lich. He felt that such a hint would be cover if S'vaya was indeed closely allied with Deri and word of this conversation made its way back to her and her allies.

He absolutely did not want to be on the wrong side of Salazar's wrath and suspected that if Salazar felt the rest of them worthy of companionship then they were most likely quite a bit more dangerous than they appeared. Deri was quite a mystery - she did not seem particularly powerful. But a lich had captured her and provoked a team of rescuers. He did recall seeing her cast a simple spell - perhaps she was a formidable wizard or sorcerer. Such types were often known to hide extensive power in less imposing guises.

Ostellius's conversation with S'vaya came to an abrupt end shortly after he had mentioned that all of them could be pawns in some unseen power's game. A strange look had crossed her face and she practically through him out of the room. He could not be sure if it was something he said or if perhaps she was expecting someone (Bael?) else. He turned invisible and lingered for a while, but did not observe anyone else coming or going from her room.

He grew impatient and left. Perhaps he would have better luck seeking Urcin's replacement in the underground village with Salazar.

While wandering around the Great Bazaar waiting for his appointment with Salazar, Ostellius ran into Ceszar. After some banter, Ceszar confided that he wished to discuss a matter in private with Ostellius. Ostellius figured that this discussion might be a good opportunity to enlist Ceszar's aid in finding information that could lead to the phylactery.

Ceszar and Ostellius found a quiet corner at the Hammer to discuss matters. Ceszar, it turned out, wanted to enlist Ostellius aid. Apparently, he had gotten into a scuffle with Bael and had paid a visit to the Dustmen as a result. Ceszar thought that in the future, he might be able to stand against Bael, but that he would not be able to if, as she had done before, S'vaya came to Bael's aid. Ceszar stated that he wanted Ostellius to aid him against Bael if the two once again came into conflict. Ceszar made it very clear that he did not want to harm S'vaya in any way - a statement that Ostellius already knew from being able to understand Ceszar's Infernal conversation with her. Still he feigned ignorance on this point.

Ostellius considered Ceszar's offer carefully. He believed that Ceszar would be a useful ally, but he did not want to wish alienating S'vaya, yet. He did not yet know enough about her relationship to the rest of the lich seeking cabal. He also knew nothing about Bael except that he did not like Ceszar in the least.

Ultimately, Ostellius decided that he could not aid Ceszar at this time. He politely declined and assured Ceszar that he was reserving his right to change his mind and aid him in the future.

At this point, Ceszar feared that perhaps their conversation might not be as private as they hoped. He suggested that they might obtain more privacy by conversing quietly in a public area. Ostellius did not believe that anyone could hear their conversation, but he went along with Ceszar's suggestion nonetheless.

The two began talking about exchanging information - Ceszar stating that he might be able to obtain information about S'vaya on Ostellius's behalf. Ceszar asked Ostellius to explain some of the information he had overheard when he had remained in the room with Ostellius and S'vaya.

Ostellius was not surprised that Ceszar had remained. The man's stealthiness was quite impressive. Still, Ostellius was impressed with his discipline in the face of S'vaya's stinging tentacles.

Ostellius decided that the maximum about spending money to make money probably held true in this situation. He explained to Ceszar his conversation with S'vaya including his substitution of her name for Arvolexia's. He explained that Deri and her friends sought the phylactery and that he was looking for it too.

Ceszar knew at least a little about the lich, and wanted to know who was working with Deri. Ostellius told him the people he could recall - Salazar, the goblin Marius, and a third person who Ostellius could not recall. Ceszar seemed surprised to learn of a goblin named Marius - he knew a human that wore a mask by that name. Ostellius explained that Deri seemed to be critical of the goblin's disguise - which Ostellius had taken to be the mask. They quickly concluded that she must have been referring to whatever magic had enabled the man to become a goblin, and his failure to dispose of his distinctive mask.

Ceszar revealed that he had overheard a conversation between Deri and S'vaya that showed that Ostellius conversation with S'vaya had mostly led to confusion. This revelation allowed Ceszar and Ostellius to conclude that S'vaya was more of a party to the lich hunting cabal than Ostellius. Her allegiance at least had the appearance of being with Deri. Ostellius was somewhat disappointed by this news - it meant that S'vaya's statement regarding knowing the lich probably meant that she only knew of him - a result that would lessen his chances of finding the lich by monitoring her.

Ceszar also revealed that his monitoring of this conversation occasioned his fight with Bael. The sharp eyed man had apparently spotted him observing the conversation.

Ceszar and Ostellius agreed to continue exchanging information and parted ways. Ceszar would continue monitoring S'vaya and look into Arvolexia as well (he apparently had some history with her). Ostellius would try to investigate the relationships between the lich hunters - he specifically would try to

Ostellius paused for a minute to take some notes. He had learned that he could not trust his still shaky memory. He took out his notebook and looked at his growing to do list and added to it (in his personal code):

Find lich's phylactery (What was his name??? It started with a "Z")
Investigate memory loss - perhaps Abby can help remedy
Find more portals & keys
Travel with Salazar to the Under Sigil Village and meet Urcin's replacement
Find information/ follow Garles
Research Arvolexia
Investigate scroll Merem took from S'vaya
Investigate Bael
Research Ceszar's lineage claims
Search for information on Ceszar's cult
Investigate betraying Ceszar to S'vaya/Bael or to his demon worshiping cult

Ostellius found the healer, Abby, and asked her about memory loss. She made a careful inspection of his head, but did not find evidence of a significant head injury. At some point during her examination, the subject of Ostellius's profession came up. Abby seemed quite nervous after Ostellius revealed that he was a warlock. He inquired about her apparent apprehension.

Abby revealed that her fears stemmed from reading that warlocks gain their powers by making a bargain with some power, typically a devil or a demon, for a portion of their soul. She then asked if Ostellius knew how he gained access to his powers. He did not - most likely due to his memory loss.

Ostellius did not believe himself to be particularly evil nor did he believe himself to be particularly good. Indeed, he viewed most such judgments to be biased opinions meant to further the observers self interest. The example he liked to use involved some paladins of Tyr and an orc village.

Told from the paladins' perspective the story goes something like this: After a number of raids upon outlying villages and farms, the paladins decided that they needed to preemptively attack the orc stronghold to reduce the threat to the community. The humans generally viewed this decision and the ensuing orc slaughter as moral and just. The evil orcs were defeated and the human communities were safe.

Told from the orcs' perspective the story looks like this: Human villages and farms had been built increasingly closer to orc hunting grounds. Forests that used to contain food animals had been clear cut and turned into farm lands serving humans. The humans that took the place of these animals represented a tasty, but dangerous new food supply. After some consideration, the orcs decided that the risks of human retaliation were less than the risks of starvation. The orcs conducted small raids hoping to avoid the wrath of their dangerous opponents. Unfortunately for the orcs, the humans had a zero tolerance policy for being treated as a food animal and launched an expedition that slaughtered most of the tribe and drove the few survivors from their ancestral homeland.

Both sides view the other side as an evil force - their entire concept of the morality was a construct of their observer bias. They both wanted ends that would inevitably lead them into conflict with the other. To help make their own acts palatable, they constructed their own moral frameworks justifying their actions.

Still, Abby's comment about a pact with an infernal or fey being gave Ostellius pause. Perhaps his memory loss was not accidental.

Ostellius encountered Salazar in one of the many back streets of Sigil. After talking to him briefly, Ostellius agreed to accompany him through a portal into the Abyss. As they fought their way through some of the hordes caught up in the Blood War, Salazar made an odd request. He wanted Ostellius to help him locate some sort of greater Devil for a purpose he would not explain. The moment Salazar made his request, Ostellius felt a compelling need to reach into his boot. He managed to suppress this urge with only a mere flinch. Salazar's request made Ostellius nervous - he hinted at some vague unspecified reward as well as negative consequences for failure (pointing out that he could abandon Ostellius in the Abyss for instance). Ostellius evaluated his options and decided his best course was to agree to help procure the name. He told Salazar that he would help, but that he would need some time to find the information.

Oddly, Ostellius did not feel apprehensive about his ability to deliver this information. He somehow knew that he had dealt with a suitable devil in the past. Later, when he was alone again, he searched the boot he had felt so strongly drawn to. Inside a subtle cut in the interior lining he found a folded parchment. The thin parchment was folded carefully, but showed signs of wear - perhaps from repeated foldings and unfoldings. He did not recognize the material from which the parchment was made. Carefully, unfolding the parchment, he found a coded note. The code looked familiar, but he could not recall the key. A few minutes examining the cypher convinced Ostellius that this code would not be easily broken. He did know what information the note contained, but he felt certain that the contents would help him with Salazar's request.

He ran into Ceszar. He spoke briefly to him about his discussion with Abby about memory loss. The perceptive Ceszar told Ostellius a story about a man with no memory awakening to find himself in the company of a hag asking him what his third wish was. After learning that his second wish was to make everything back to the way it was before, the man's third wish was to know who he was. At this, the hag comments, "Interesting, that is the same as your first wish."

Ostellius had been thinking about Abby's comment about the origin of warlock powers. He told Ceszar that he was beginning to think that perhaps his memory loss was the result of some intentional attempt to find a loop hole in the contract that had granted him his power. He wondered if he should continue to pursue his prior life. Still, the hole in his history gnawed at him - a persistent itch that he could not quite scratch.

Ceszar informed Ostellius that he had spoken with Arvolexia about Urcin. According to Arvolexia, Nastasia was responsible for Urcin's disappearance. Ostellius asked Ceszar if he thought Arvolexia might be trying to deflect blame or create doubts about her culpability. Ceszar said that she seemed quite disinterested in the whole affair and that if she was acting, she was doing a good job.

Ostellius told Ceszar about Salazar's request. Caught up in his narrative about the devil, Ostellius told Ceszar about the note that he could not yet decode. Regretting the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, Ostellius tried to downplay the significance of the note, but he doubted that Ceszar would be duped. Wished that once again that he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. Something about Ceszar tended to make Ostellius let down his guard.

In the short term, Ostellius did not know if his revelation made much difference. He couldn't decode the note and doubted that anyone else could either.

Ostellius spent hours in the Hall of Records poring over various mathematical treatises. He could remember some general information about his various codes, but not enough to read his note. In his frustration, he tossed the note on the floor, stood, and stretched. Sighing, he bent over to retrieve the note. As he was reaching for it, something about the ornate handwriting caught his eye. The flowing script seemed to hint at something. He picked the note up and held it at arm length puzzling over the pattern.

Suddenly, he realized that if he looked at only the first character on each line it seemed to spell a message in his basic code. He quickly decoded the message. The message was "Multiple codes - interleaved signal noise."

"Well," he thought, "that explains the complexity." He realized that decrypting the note would be even more complicated than he initially thought, but knowing this information should at least make it possible.

Renewed by his breakthrough, he returned to work. After several hours he had found a message. The note described a devil named "Amduscius." The fiend was apparently a servitor of Tiamat. The note warned that the devil was extremely crafty and ambitious.

He could not yet decode the rest of the note. It appeared to be written in yet another code. Still, the information he had found would be valuable to Salazar. He still thought it odd that the warrior bard would be interested in contacting a devil. He did not particularly strike Ostellius as the sort of person that would have the mental stamina required to negotiate the intricacies of a fiendish bargain without giving more than he received. That concern mattered little to Ostellius. He knew that he now possessed enough information to bargain with Salazar.

He began to form a plan. He strongly suspected that the portion of the note that he could not yet decode contained the devil's true name. Though he could not obtain it currently, the devil would not know that. He set out to prepare the summoning ritual. A brief visit to the bazaar found the ingredients he required. He headed to the room he rented.

After several hours of precise preparation he summoned the devil. Upon arriving, the devil bellowed, "Ah, Ostellius. It has been some time since you last summoned me. I was beginning to miss your banal drivel."

Ostellius replied, "Yes. I have been somewhat preoccupied. Anyway, I do not have a specific request this time, but I do want to discuss a plan with you."

"I don't know why you think I would be interested in your plan, silly mortal."

"I suspect that you care about situations in which I might share your name."

"Ah yes, that tired old threat. Go on..."

Ostellius looked the devil in the eyes and did his best to look menacing. "Look, how would you like to have a powerful new toy to manipulate?"

"That sounds interesting. I suppose you'll be wanting something in exchange for this 'toy?'"

"Of course, but I do not think that either of us is in a position to negotiate a deal. I suspect that you will find this toy to be quite valuable to your plans. I will give you the toy with the understanding that I will be paid later, after you have established the value of the toy."

"I am not agreeing to something so open ended."

"That is true. You are not. I give you the toy, and later you can decide if the value of the toy is such that I merit a reward. I will leave it to your discretion. I am only going to place a few pre-conditions on this deal."

"Ahh! I knew you would not just give me something. What are these conditions?"

"Really, I just want an assurance that you will not use your new toy to dispose of me."

"He could do that?"

"Not after you agree to my condition. But, yes, I do believe he could."

"I think I may enjoy this toy."

"So you agree?"

"Yes, mortal. I will not have my new toy hunt you down and destroy you. I make no promises about any of my other servants."

"Great. He will summon you asking for favors. I will leave the details of any arrangements to you. He'll be more suspicious if you reveal this conversation to him, but that is your decision. You are dismissed."

After resting for a while, Ostellius sought out Salazar. He gave the bard the name of the devil. He warned him to use good summoning practices explaining that this was not the typical devil that Salazar casually hacked down on the fields of the Blood War. He specifically cautioned him not to summon the devil on any of the lower planes where his powers would be great enough to defeat all but the most special wards.

Ostellius told Salazar that he would extract payment from him later after Salazar determined if the devil would be of any use to him. He reiterated his warnings of caution in dealings - harping on the fact that the devil was extremely shrewd and would manipulate words to his advantage at every opportunity.

With that, Ostellius took his leave and headed to the Abyss for a little rest and relaxation.