Another Tidbit from my Greyhawk Campaign

I posted this on G+ some time ago and wanted to make sure I didn't lose it, since G+ is shutting down. This took place close to a year ago, I think. Brisco's PC was probably around 9th level at the time.


So, my son's Evil Magic User discovered and sneaked his way into the small, hidden dungeon beneath a temple dedicated to an obscure Spider God, located on the Wild Coast. Long forgotten by the priests above, the secret sanctuary below had once been the domain of the sorcery wielding masters of the cult.

After dispatching the guardians hidden therein, he discovered what he thought he was looking for. A sealed, silver door, glowing fiercely with red sigils of protection and binding. Flashes of flame, occasionally erupting from the lines of power traced into the metal.

A radically dismembered mage, the forgotten leader of the cultists, begged for help in achieving a long awaited death as flames licked at the many separate parts of his gore covered mortal coil. With tortuous gasps and whispers, the damned creature told him what lay beyond the door. And that the Bindings had been weakened by their prisoner's decades long attempts to win free, though the efforts exerted were still too paltry, thanks to the inhibition of her powers.

Still, my son's MU was fairly certain that the dark magic he sought was within the sealed room. One of the lost Doctrines of Darkness.

Leaving the cursed mage to whimper in agony, he went back to the fiercely heated door to attempt to dispel the wards.

"Allright. After your conversation with the dismembered mage, you can definitely see where the wards have been strained and made threadbare in places. I'm giving you a 50% chance to finish unraveling them with a Dispel Magic."

"Can I try again if I don't make it?"

"Sure. Next time you level up."

"Great!"

He rolls some ridiculously low number and grins in triumph!

"The door cracks and shatters as the wards disintegrate and stepping out of the doorway, surrounded by smoke and flame..."

Asmodeus: On the Nature of Lies

A Letter, sent by carrier Vrock , intercepted by three different spies, copied by two, the copies filed, the original arriving at its destination.

Lovely Glasya,

No doubt, the current weather in Minauros is to your tastes. The little fetch devils, scurrying about your divan. Your Lord Mammon, bedecking you in scintillating jewels and rare perfumes. And as the armies of Hell wet their teeth on the blood of angels, you dutifully set about the task I set before you, for the sake of which, you sought council from your wise Father, writing:

"How is it, that forbidding the Priests and Clerics to engage in sexual dalliances, while secretly encouraging them to do so, is supposed to further our end of forcing them to forsake emotional ties with their fellows, reserving instead, all loyalties for their church?"

Your lack of perception in this area is, in the main, due to your ignorance of the nuances of human emotion.

Yet, you also write:

"...that Lie of Love, which we devils entertain, but sparingly."

Which, is nothing more than the sort of romantic twaddle, you ostensibly disparage!

A Lie is nothing more than the creation and relating of an idea about Truth.

Now, Truth is what one accepts, pretends, or models to be Actual, from one or more perspectives. A Lie may be made to oneself, to others, or to all parties involved.

Facts are not Truth. Facts are verbs and are usually Expressions and Manifestations of a conceived Truth, subject to the perceptive field of any given consciousness. In short, Facts are Lies, or events which may only be perceived by way of Lies and are another form of relating Truth.

Any Fact can only be interpreted by way of a subject's Imagination and Ideations, both mental and emotional, some of which are biologically based. Thus, Facts are subject to manipulation by further Lies.

Now, Truth may only be related, or apprehended by a Lie. An idea about the Truth. This idea, which is merely a Lie, then masquerades as Truth in the consciousness of those who fail to separate conceptions from actuality.

Thus, so-called Truths are Lies, some of which are more useful and amusing than others.

Perhaps, it would help you to see "Love," as a verb, instead of a noun.

Your "Loving" Father in Nessus,

Asmodeus