While in the city of the invincible overlord (desert city) Skilver hears rumors of inquiries being made regarding him. Following up on the lead Skilver, Raineer and Thud head off to meet with the mysterious contact. When they arrive they are told by a guard to come back after sunset. They decide to go to the church of Belial. It seems as though Skilver has convinced Thud to convert to the Belial religion. Thud converts and has his tongue split in the center in accordance with the traditional Belial initiation. Skilver also receives the tongue splitting as it was overlooked at his first initiation. They are reminded that the iron fist is best wrapped in a velvet glove. Thud must also contribute to the church 10% of his income for the next ten years.
The three depart the temple and travel back to meet with the mysterious contact. They arrive to find a familiar friend to Skilver. It is Leonardo the vampire. He would like Skilver to go and capture the crimson death that is his soul and return it to him so that he may re-take his human form. (step toward being a litch)
The group decides not to partake in the mission and look for more leads. After paying for information on several leads the group decides to travel across the eastern desert and into the Grey Peaks to find the lamp of wondrous power that runs on crushed gems. At the end of the day the group can see that a large portion of the city is in flames…
Upon entering the grey peaks the party spots a group of eight mountain giants traveling on an adjacent slope. Max uses the helm of brilliance to summon a fireball. Doubling the effects using the rod of fury, the 20 hit dice fireball produces quite the explosion. Two more fireballs from Raineer and Skilver leave the giants in ashes.
The following day the group finds a cave entrance that looks like a giant mouth with vicious teeth. The teeth being the great stalactites and stalagmites that fill the cave. As the group moves further into the cave it becomes evident that other groups have camped here before. In the very rear of the cave there are stone carved stairs that lead down. At the bottom there is a large cavern that has seven tunnels that lead in different directions. Between each tunnel there is a droopy face carved on the wall. As the group approaches one of the tunnels a face says: “turn back, this is not the way.” The group notices that each mouth has a different gem on the tip of each tongue. The group decides to rest and decide on the next course of action.