The ongoing Tale of the Baron Tamar as told by Dom ‘Petit' Pierre of Pasos

Into the Demon's lair we went, although not without incident and only thanks to Tamar's brilliant forward thinking was the life of Sir Henry Markham saved by the blessed magic of the creator when a leap across treacherous rocks saw that brave Knight plunge into deep icy waters and sink into the depths.  Tamar had foreseen such an event and had taken care to protect him with a spell that allowed him to breathe underwater.  Whilst the rest of us made our way to the Lamia's cove via the headland, Sir Henry walked under the waves.

The lair of the beast was a dark, unforgiving place and barren when we first arrived.  A mound of sand stood at the mouth to the sea and using my magical powers of sight projection, I was able to safely scout the area from a distance.  Within the cavern was a magical area, a shrine as it turned out, dedicated to the sea God of Death and Darkness, Wachaza.  I had heard tell of this power in my time within Sog City - a chosen God of Vadeli pirates and freebooters.  On top of the misshapen altar stone stood a Wachazan Tiki also made of stone.  Beyond the altar lay the exit to the city - a winding tunnel no doubt once used by smugglers and now used by our Lamia and her thralls, whose torches I spotted in the distance. 

We retreated to the mound awaiting their arrival and indeed surprised them but not before she had surprised me!  The Lamia's gaze and voice was so compelling that for a moment even I was weak in her presence and for a short while fell under her spell until Sir Henry intervened and shook me from my paralysis.  Sir Henry then tried addressing the beast but she was short on conversation, instructing her Vadeli thralls to kill us all.  So battle commenced and Tamar and his companions distinguished themselves in the fight with brave and valorous deeds too numerous to recall.  Even Vera the Red and plucky pagan healer Silkene played their parts so that victory was soon upon us and we had the Lamia cornered and begging for her life.

Then, as Tamar had expected and foreseen, the godless Brithini arrived to take credit for our work.  They vanished with the creature and bid us attend them the following day within their great brass fortress.  I will confess to being impressed with the architecture behind the walls - everything had a simple but ornate beauty and was precisely laid out in accordance with the rigid thinking of the atheist. 

Upon an open platform the Brithini Zzaburri Minerva and her Horal Reiss had the Lamia Eglantine imprisoned in a cell of lightning.  They had entered into some pact with the creature before our arrival but we were still able to ask our questions openly and honestly.  We spoke of Luther and his journey and confirmed that he had travelled towards the dread Dilis Swamp in search of a village called Mission Mount.  It was here, Eglantine told us that Luther had planned to challenge her former Mistress whose name is hidden but known to us as the Slittermask.  It is this demon that serves the Devil and has been leading men from our world to the quest lands where she devours their souls for the pleasure of her master.  Minerva said that she believed Luther had surrendered himself and his companions deliberately, ‘playing the long game' as she put it.  The very thought sent shivers down my spine but perhaps explained Marik's strange behaviour. 

Before we could ask any more questions, Sir Henry received a royal summons, extended to us all and as it is not polite to keep Royalty waiting, we made our excuses and withdrew to Pinchgut and thence by teleportation to Northpoint, seat of the Queen of Loskalm.  There we would learn more of the Mask in history and her cunning defeat at the hands of the legendary St Talor, The Laughing Warrior...