Erwen prepared himself to cast wind walk , but first thought it best to cast pass without trace on himself and his companions to aid in their infiltration of the Bloodspear Ritual. Yeemik began to quietly shoulder his way through the crowd towards the trio of drow in the southwest quadrant. Siegfried regarded Rulgar, taking the orc warlord’s measure. Rulgar was gazing upwards at the dome above as if locked in a staring contest with Gruumsh, while Aunt Jurrg continued her vile chanting. Rulgar appeared to be fully invested in the ritual. Siegfried turned back to where Erwen was standing. “We just have to hold things together for a minute. Would you like a distraction?” he asked the halfling, who nodded vigourously in reply. Siegfried sent a message to his newfound relative. “I’m curious, brother. How did you get the elves on your side?” There was perhaps the barest flicker or flinch from the half-orc warlord as he replied, “ Ah, brother. Mother informed me that you might show up. As to your question, political aims often make the strangest of bedfellows, wouldn’t you agree?” Theryn took the opportunity to sneak behind the crowd of onlookers towards the shimmering silk curtain that walled off an exit in the southern part of the chamber. He peeked his head inside. Within the room, which at one time would have been an area where priests and shamans prepared themselves for temple rituals, there was another section curtained off, but sleeping on a pelt laid out on the floor was the immense, snoring form of a Dire Tiger, its tail twitching lazily. Not going in there , Theryn thought to himself in Orcish. Bob edged closer to one of the captured sacrificial gnomes, trying not to let any emotion show as the small humanoid sniveled in terror as the events unfolded. Varien chose to stay put and look as imposing as he believed an Abyssal prince could look. Erwen skulked forward and quietly began to cast wind walk , hoping that the drumming and the cave witch’s chanting would cover up the sound of the spell’s verbal components. Siegfried continued to send message cantrips towards his brother. “Funny, Mother never really mentioned you. I suppose it makes sense. One child in the Orc world, one child in the Human world. To see which one would handle Dagult Neverember first, I suppose?” “Indeed, it does make sense,” was Rulgar’s reply. “ Bestow powers on her children and send one son to each party who did her wrong, then sit back and watch the result.” Theryn eased his way back into the crowd and moved north, passing Siegfried and whispering “dire tiger in the south chamber” as he did so. Yeemik continued to move towards Nezznar. “Well, Mum has been rather mum about affairs of state,” Siegfried said. “ How is dad, by the way?” “Father is holding his own as best a Prince of Many-Arrows can,” Rulgar replied. “ But my ambitions have taken me from the old homestead and brought me here.” Theryn moved north into a cave network and reached into his admittedly shallow frame of reference for this sort of ritual and looked about for objects that would likely be a part of such a magical activity. He figured a spear would have to be involved, and there was some sinister significance to the runes painted over Rulgar’s body. As he crept forward, he heard the sounds of Orcs talking to one another and discovered a cadre of sentries guarding an entrance to the east. He decided to bluff his way forward. Walking into the cave, he said “They sent me to get the bloodspear. Is it here?” The orcs stopped in mid-conversation. One of them, a Hand of Gruumsh by the look of him, frowned. “The ritual’s already begun. Who are you?” “Shadowhand Taran,” Theryn said. “Well then, I must have misheard my orders then. I’ll go back and check.” Turning around to leave, he thought he could hear the faint sounds of violence from parts further east – echoes of weapons striking flesh and shouts of orcish rage. If I have my directions right, these tunnels lead back into the chamber where we fought the Horderaiser , Theryn thought to himself. Now it was Rulgar’s turn to send Siegfried a message using a sending spell . “ So, my brother, how fared you in the human kingdoms of the Sword Coast? Did the weak ones treat you with respect, or did they tame the orc within?” “No respect,” Siegfried replied freely. “Only cunning. I have to say, my works are less impressive than your achievements, it would seem. My spy network was arrested by Dagult recently. Nothing so exotic as your menagerie.” From his vantage point in the crowd, Siegfried thought he could see a smile tugging at Rulgar’s lips. Erwen hunkered down and continued to cast the wind walk spell. A Bloodsworn Orc sentry standing nearby turned his head slightly and frowned, but then shrugged and turned his attention back to the platform. Aunty Jurrg’s chant continued. Siegfried chose to send a sending spell of his own, but not to his brother. He reached out magically to Remallia Haventree, the lead Harper in Waterdeep. “ In Tholl Sla-Houk watching Red Wizards, Eldreth Veluuthra, Garaele and drow crown Rulgar Many-Arrows in Bloodspear Ritual. Prepare Waterdeep. Protect the Old Target.” Haventree’s response was immediate. “Keep a watchful eye. Detain Garaele if you can. Gather more intelligence on this Orc warlord and his plans.” Theryn moved back into the main tunnel and chose a different branch, intent on exploring further. Siegfried noticed that Rulgar’s chief lieutenant, the wyvern-rider, had suddenly snapped to attention as if receiving a mental command, and was now scanning the crowd as if looking for someone or something out of place. Likewise, a female orc, tall and shapely, began to patrol through the crowd in the southern section of the temple. “Are you looking for me, brother? I’m flattered,” Siegfried sent a message to Rulgar. “ As my brother, you should occupy a hallowed place during this ritual,” Rulgar replied. “Why not reveal yourself and take your rightful place at my side?” Siegfried pursed his lips. Rulgar sounded sincere enough, about as sincere as Siegfriend himself would have been had their positions been reversed. Clearly Rulgar was a skillful communicator. Theryn came to a door blocking the tunnel. He attempted to pick the lock to no avail. He frowned. Yeemik slunk into position behind the Black Spider and held his flail, waiting. “ Nonsense, this is your special day,” Siegfried replied to his brother. “ I will just stay here with your tiger and we can talk about this later. There will be plenty of time to celebrate your achievements.” “Tonious likes being scratched behind the ear,” Rulgar replied. Siegfried smiled. While Alec, Bob, and Varien stood firm, Yeemik stood at the ready. “Nezznar informed me of your turnabout at Ieirithymbul,” Rulgar said via sending . “ Are your fellow champions here to bear witness this day? Their efforts should not go unrewarded, don’t you think?” “I sent them ahead to the Hall of Heroes to do some toy shopping on my behalf,” Siegfried replied. “ BY the way, Tonious will have difficulty enjoying scratches now that I’ve slit his throat.” “Oh my brother,” Rulgar replied. “ We should not set a standard of prevarication and dissembling so early in our relationship don’t you think?” Rulgar’s lieutenant was making a beeline for the cordoned-off area to the south as the dangerous looking orc woman continued to search the western side of the temple. Theryn fished out the golden statue of the sun elf he’d been carrying since Cragmaw Castle. “Will I find what I’m looking for if I search for it in these rooms?” he asked the statue. There was a flash from the golden statuette’s eyes as it replied with a single word: woe . Theryn frowned, then shrugged and put the statuette back in his pack. He moved back to the main chamber, sidling through the crowd, and again spoke with Siegfried. “Did you see sunlight?” Siegfried whispered. “Although the door behind us is shut, there is a way through the caves. Follow the right hand wall, and it will lead you out. It just brings us back to the other side of the chamber, where we can leave through the central shaft,” Theryn muttered in Orcish. “The servants’ entrance,” Siegfried nodded. “Tell the Trevelyans and Yeemik.” Theryn shook his head. “I can’t, remember?” He tapped at his invisible mask. Siegfried nodded absently. Erwen continued to chant, mindful of the nearby gnome’s whimperings. “Well, brother,” Siegfried said to Rulgar via message.. One of us grew up in a den of wolves, the other in a den of vipers. Single-minded as Mother is, we did learn different traits.” “Well said, brother,” Rulgar replied. “In unity we might find greater strength than as rivals.” Siegfried suppressed a smile as he could almost feel the inevitable dagger in his back. Rulgar’s lieutenant disappeared behind the curtain. Suddenly, Aunty Jurrg’s chanting began to change. The cave witch had turned her attention not the Rulgar but to the room of onlookers. “She’s casting some kind of spell,” Siegfried said. “Hoping to flush us out. To that I say, nay,” and he cast counterspell . His attempt to disrupt Jurrg’s magic failed. Bob stepped up to do the same, with the same results. Jurrg’s eyes flashed with truesight and Siegfried realized that the time for stalling was at an end. The cave witch reached out a clawed hand as she divined the true forms of his companions and shrieked “ IMPOSTORS!” “Oh, stop your shrill braying, you’re not impressing anyone,” Siegfried immediately called back to Aunty Jurrg. Theryn immediately charged towards the Red Wizards of Thay in the southeastern section, targeting the male wizard with a bo staff strike that landed squarely, stunning the hapless mage. Theryn rounded on his female companion, missing with his staff but following up with a flurry of blows. The orc berserker behind Varien roared with bloodlust and lashed out with his axe at Siegfried, striking him squarely. He then swung a second time, missing, but caught Siegfried on the backswing. Behind Nezznar, Yeemik leaned in and whispered. “Neznard, it’s time for me to squish a spider.” Yeemik swung his censer-flail viciously, scourging the Black Spider as he stood flat-footed, tearing armor, cape and flesh alike with three savage strikes that bloodied the drow wizard in a split-second. Reeling from the blows, Nezznar turned to face the disguised Tiefling, his expression one of dull surprise. “Do I…know you?” the drow said weakly before falling headlong before the Vengeance Paladin, his lifeblood leaking out onto the stone floor. “Yes!” Bob shouted. “Mirna Dendrar says hello, Nezznar!” He turned and fired a flamestrike at the sealed doors behind them. The force of the magical blast blew the doors open, providing the party with an exit. From behind the doors they could hear the sound of a desperate melee as the orc guards and tanarruks attempted to hold off a horde of undead orcs that were streaming from cave tunnels and rising from shallow graves within the ancient hall. The undead swarmed the defenders. Alec squared off against another orc, defending himself with skillful blocking blades. Siegfried rushed towards the platform and faced his brother for the first time. He stood over Rulgar. “As generous as your offer of kinshi was, my brother, the way I see it there’s a serious problem with our teaming up: there’s only room on the Throne for one asshole.” Siegfried cast psychic blast in a cone that caught up Rulgar, his stone plinth, Aunty Jurrg, orcs and drow alike. The blast knocked Jurrg backwards off the platform, cutting off her chant mid-word as she struck one of the pillars and fell to the ground, hard. The others behind her were similarly bowled over. For his part Rulgar deftly stepped away from the stone table and held his ground, hefting the war maul in his hands. He stared at Siegfried, a dark look on his face. “Hello there, brother.” Siegfried gave an exaggerated bow. “Let the dead bury the dead. We’re done here.” Rulgar shook his head. “Oh, brother, we are nowhere near done.” Varien cast flamestrike on the Red Wizards and nearby orcs. The Thayan bodyguard rushed forward, slashing at the paladin. Alec struck his attacker with his mercurial greatsword . Out of the corner of his eye, Siegfried saw the female orc charge at him, blades in hand. He cast shield and deflected her attacks with his mantle of invisible force. Theryn swung his bo staff at the dazed Red Wizard, striking him in the back of the head while following through with a spin that drove the butt end of the weapon through the man’s jaw and out the back of his skull. The Red Wizard went limp, dead, and slid off the monk’s staff to fall on the floor with a splat. Theryn swung his staff and struck his female companion, following up with a flurry of blows that knocked the woman prone. He then leapt towards Rulgar. Erwen grinned as he brought his invocation to completion. Stepping forward, he exhaled from his dwarven pipe a blast of white foggy cloud that began to encircle him and his friends. “This is a breeze,” he said. “I’m really a huge fan,” he said to Rulgar, “and you really blew me away. But it’s time to get the fog out of here!” With that, Erwen, the four scions of Ieirithymbul, Yeemik, Siegfried, Theryn, Varien, Alec and Bob began to dissolve into a gaseous form. The manacles holding the gnomes fell away impotently. Siegfried took the opportunity to grab the orc woman and draw her close, planting a wet kiss on her lips before becoming incorporeal. Turning to his brother, he whispered “by the way, I killed your Horderaiser. Enjoy the ghosts of the Broken Bone horde.” The clouds began to funnel out of the temple over the heads of the assembled throng, which was beginning to descend into chaos as the first undead orcs stumbled into the temple like drunken party guests. The last thing they saw was Rulgar standing defiantly on the stone platform, war hammer in hand, bellowing Siegfried’s name in rage as they made their escape.