Journal of a dark assassin

[teamramrod]

*Balzag enters the temple and searches for one of the field spies commonly used to keep the isolated temple's higher ups so fully aware of the worldly events taking place all around it. Going down a long dark corridor, and eventualy around a few corners he spots the scout whom he was looking for*

I have heard the news that this bowl is a key to some secret chamber from our spies. However, I'm dissapointed that they did not reveal how they obtained this information and from whom. I want you to scour the lands in search of Paladans who may be searching or know anything about this bowl's properties and any lore that might be associated with it. I want specific names of individuals, and or paladan cults who might have knowledge of this bowl in our possession. Do not fail, for if you fail, I fail. If I must face failure and have to go out and gather information myself because I was unable to have my men perform their duties than I will have to deal with you opproprietly.

*Balzag stares at the scout long and hard after finishing his words to let them sink into the now nervious man. The scout gives a slight respectfull bow to Balzag and turns to leave the room quickly existing out the same entrance that had lead the dark tall lanky Balzag into the chamber. Balzag contemplated how he had handled the man he had just intimidated. He had of course in the past threatened people with bodily harm but now that he found himself in the midst of being responsible for some of the temple's dirty work he had found he had become more cold. It hasn't been a week or so since he last killed. Only this time it was not in self defence, he had been lured in by greed and a sence of twisted honor to kill a woman who he had once traveled with. The desert sands where Balzag and his sibling hailed from offered no comforts from the life of hopelessness as a slave swinging away at ore with a pick. Death was a regular occurance in his life, wether from minning accedents or the cruelness often found in humans who have lost their humanity to feel for those lower than themselves. Balzag thought he was different than them, but now that he is on top, he finds hiself acting in much the same ways as his oppressors.*

*Balzag shakes away the thoughts of the temple and of the horrible scene of his blade peiricing a woman's breast plate as she fell to the floor in a pool of her own crimsome red blood. His gaze now rested upon the valley below him in Iretall mountains, not too far from where a small insignificant village was burnt to the ground. It was night time, the moon was only a quarter full, but the radiance it displayed upon the dark uneven terrain of the valley made lovely shadowy figures for the imaginations eye to form into images was calming indeed. Not for Balzag however, he was a man on edge and he found himself once again thinking about the work ahead of him. He sat the rest of the time silently awaiting a meeting with the scout he had sent days earlier to find out information. Balzag was anxious to say the least.*

[teamramrod]

*A staff of power came crashing into Balzag abdomen as he was doubled over the end of it. A quick jerk upwards from the hands of Cassandra, the witch and personaly assistant to the High Priestess, had Balzag up in the air a good 7 feet before gravity finally reigned in his body and pulled it crashing onto the dark stone floor of the temple. Balzag, a veteran of countless battles, and possessing a strong disipline, took the brunt of the attack well and was by no means incompasitated. He was used to fighting opponents who were stronger than him, bigger than him, and were in greater numbers usualy, but this one was no simple forest giant. This was a woman who commanded great arcane powers. Even as Balzag stared at her with murderous intent, he knew all too well that this was a fight he could not win. Even if he did win he would not win, for this woman was a protected commodity and any action against her would have surely awakened the wraith of the High Priestess so he thought.

Prudence forced him to reconsider throwing away his life at that moment and he simply looked away. He was fed up with his dull task of handling the enslaved goblins. Watching them work and directing their efforts while using physical force to keep them in line and up to speed productivity wise. This seemed to tear at his pride. He had made the mistake of letting the Witch know this and she replied quickly with what she thought about his disdain. Balzag thought of himself as more than some lackey used to run the simple day to day tasks of the temple. He wanted respect, honor, and mostly a place in which he could employ his skills of stealth and death.

After excaping from the confines of the the silver slavers Balzag had picked up a life as a mercenary. Skilled with not only magic but stealth and the ability to turn his two short curved blades into instruments of death made him a good canidate for those who wished to solve their problems by force. Soon he came to know other famous names of indiviuals renowned for their skill in killing in secret and he soon became filled with envy and fasiniation with the romantic part of being an assassin for hire. Not just any assassin however, he wished to be so renowned for his work that he would fetch the highest price in the underground market. However, at that moment it seemed to him that he had been short changed on his ability and stuck with menial tasks, perhaps for the fun and enjoyment of those above him he thought. He was relieved, however, when he was called upon to accomplish a task out in the field. An intruder had wandered into the surrounding mountain range and the scouts had picked wind that he was in search of the temple itself.

A slight smile excaped Balzags lips as he grabbed his gear and donned on his diguise. With two dark guards decked in full plate armor behind him he stepped out of the temple and into the plains in pursuit of this mysterious stranger. His orders from the high preistess was to first find the man, find out what he wants, and if he became too curious, dispatch him before he found the location of the secret temple. Balzag was in his element at this time, the hunt was on.*

[teamramrod]

*With two guards trailing no more than a few feet behind him, Balzag's search for the roaming stranger was at an end as he came upon a man surrounded by spell fire from the many enchantments he clearly had on. Balzag being no stranger to the arcane, could identify many of the defensive spells, but many other enchanments he could not clearly reconize, however,  he knew they were not cast by a mere novice. Balzag thought to be cautious with this one and decided to impersonate a traveling hired patroll from the closest settlement to that area, Port Hempstead. The arcanist was clearly on edge. He had been searching for many hours straight for a temple, and perhaps more importantly a woman there. Balzag greeted him and got around to small talk trying to find out why he was there. The arcanist told him without reservation that he was searching for a temple and Corathites that resided there. As the arcanist mentioned what he was searching for, he became quickly suspicious of the so called traveling patroll and asked Balzag to surrender to him or die where he stood.

There was no way he was going to surrender to this one. There was no telling what kind of horror might await him, especialy from an arcanist. The many way they could torture you with magic was known to Balzag. He had in fact imagined some of his own methods he might have to employ in the future if ever he found himself in that kind of situation that he'd have to use them. Balzag was a bit relieved though having two elite Dark Guards on his heels and of course the temple witch having come out to inspect the situation now found herself in it. The wandering sorcorer became even more agitated, and suspected he had himself two Corathites. He could have been right, he could have been wrong. But in this instance he was dead on. Balzag quickly feeling this situation could turn very bad, tried to poke fun at the arcanists absurd accusations of who was and who wasn't a Corathite and simply walk off into the field, supposedly to find more gnoll ears that they had been sent out to gather. The Sorcorer wasn't buying it.

Balzag didn't really expect for this man to fire at him so boldly and without adaquate proof so when the attack came, it was much too late. A defening scream rolled out through the plains. A band of Gnolls some distance away jumped at the shrieking sound and thought it better to move away from that particular area for a short while. Balzag was in shock, he stood shaking and found it hard to breath. A cold chill creeped through his body and he could no longer feel his limbs, his entire body. As his eyes rolled up, the mystical mercenary slumped to the ground dead. Even as the Witch called upon her mithril golem, looking to lay waste to this intruder after having survived the initial attack, she found it was not enough for she too would find death that day on the grassy plains. Had the temple scouts not found the bodies in time, its possible they would have been dragged off by animals or even plains gnolls, but to the witch and mercenary's luck, they were soon dragged into the temple.

 After awaking on a temple alter, Balzag jerks up into a sitting position and flinging both arms behind him to grab for blades that were simply not there to be handled. He was half naked, having apparently been striped of all his clothing, weopons, and pack. The only thing that remained was his platinum reinforced pants and several bandage wrappings around his abdomen. He was alone in a temple room alive, safe, and frightened. Had he died? Was he knocked out? His head was throbbing just then and he felt himself getting dizzy. Falling back onto his back on a woven mat covering the stone platform he found himself on, he soon faded into a deep sleep that he would not wake up from for many days.

...to be continued