The next day, the party begins to regroup and formulate plans. Dierdre lobbies Gaelyn for some space in his inner compound to set up an alchemy lab. Her first request is pretty well turned away as she also asks for the funds for her starting equipment. Gaelyn, having just paid the group an incredibly hefty purse, wasn’t interested. Dierdre approaches him a second time. She explains the tactical advantages she could give him (greek fire and the like) and that she would only share these advantages with her party and his men. She also agrees to foot the bill. Gaelyn agrees and has his men begin clearing some space in a room off the forge. The smithy, Aengus, is a little grumpy about it, but says nothing.

Cian finally sits down to look at the book and the scroll cases they recovered in the cellar of the ruined giant tower. The book is a small journal (and not a spell book as he had hoped.) It is mostly ruined by water damage and many of the pages have are only barely legible. The journal describes the twisted experiments of a giant necromancer and his quest for lichedom. Throughout the book Cian notes several discrepancies in the necromancers pursuit and also sees hints of a very twisted obsession the giant must have had that was a constant source of distraction. (Something to do with the table and the bell hanging above it.) The journal ends with an entry that goes something like "today is the day!" The scroll cases were undamaged and water tight in fact. Within them, Cian discovers three spell scrolls. One contains Halt Undead, the other Contagion, and the final Ray of Enfeeblement.

Midmorning, Cian is still studying scrolls in a small house which Gaelyn has granted to the party (in exchange for future work of course.) Dierdre, Liam and Cinn Oir decide to question the prisoner (the Ainfean imposter from last session). They ask several questions and at first the prisoner seems reluctant to speak. The prisoner claims to be afraid of retribution from members of the Fist (which she openly discusses). Dierdre tries to make this Ainfean imposter more "comfortable" in her cell and to get her to open up. The imposter finally mentions that she can lead them to her contact in the city.

Dierdre steps out of the cell and approaches Ainfean who is at the end of the hall. She mentions that the prisoner is has agreed to lead them to an operative in the city. They need Ainfean to release the prisoner into their custody. Ain scoffs at her and replies with a very sarcastic "Oh did she." (DMs note: Ain has good Listen -and- good Sense Motive….) Dierdre doesn’t like the tone and attempts to Intimidate Ainfean. Apparently, Ain sees through it and grabs Dierdre by the collar. Dierdre stands her ground and Ainfean pushes her back. Ainfean then turns to leave. On her way out of the hallway she turns and says, "Fine, its in YOUR hands. This is your responsibility." Then, with an acrid smile, she disappears down the stairs.

Liam tries to make the interrogation more productive by casting a Zone of Truth and continuing the questioning. The prisoner clams up a bit at this point and simply refuses to answer some questions. Liam assumes she has been influenced by the Zone of Truth and begins asking several questions to try to determine more about this operative. The prisoner continues to insist that she must personally lead them to there. Even after the spell has expired, Dierdre and Liam continue for nearly an hour to try and get the prisoner to reveal who the operative is. (They are both not too keen on taking the prisoner out of the building.)

Feeling very uncomfortable about what to do next, Cinn Oir goes to Cian who is studying the scrolls he recovered. Cian suggests that he can try to gain the attention of the Fist member (the one he met in Session 14) who he is supposed to be "working" for. Cian feels he might be able to make contact with him and find out more about the imposter. If he is the same contact the imposter is talking about, the party won’t need to take the imposter out of her cell. Cian leaves for Da Derga’s Hostel, the last place he had met with the Fist operative.

Back at the cell, Liam and Dierdre continue to try to squeeze more information out of the imposter. They do get more information, however it is less than useful. More and more the imposter insists she must be the one to contact this operative directly. Cinn Oir returns after speaking to Cian and tries using some more magical methods of persuasion. She casts a Charm Person, and proceeds to try to get her to reveal more specifics about the operative. The imposter seems quite friendly toward her but gives little more information. The imposter even mentions that she doesn’t even know who the operative is but they will know her. When this spy sees her, they will initiate contact then.

The interrogations and planning continue until nightfall. At this point, Liam is tired of discussing it and he walks into the cell and cuts the ropes that bind the prisoners legs. He then proceeds to tie her to him so that she can lead them to the contact. Dierdre is still very suspicious of the whole thing but is also too curious to argue with Liam who is taking control of the situation. Dierdre then decides that taking an Ainfean look-a-alike out on the streets, bound by a rope, isn’t a great idea. She gets out her disguise kit and puts a pretty convincing disguise on the imposter so as not to draw too much attention. Cinn Oir leaves to tell Cian what is going on.

Liam and Dierdre leave the inner compound with the imposter in the lead on her short leash. As the strange procession hits the market square, the imposter is sure to greet everyone’s looks of curiosity with friendly waves and sarcastic comments. They are lead south, stopping just outside of Da Derga’s Hostel where Cian and Cinn Oir have just emerged. The imposter states that the contact will most likely be at this tavern. She hesitates on entering and says to the party that this will never work. She says if her contact sees her all bound and on a leash there is no way he will approach her. She needs to be untied.

The group is now beyond suspicious. However, they are still curious who she may lead them to. Cinn Oir then devises a plan. She whispers to the party that she can place her trained snake around the prisoner’s neck. That way, once they untie her, it can be ordered to strike at any sign of trouble. Cinn Oir then steps forward and lets the prisoner get a good look at her snake, Jackie. She tries to intimidate the prisoner with the snake. The prisoner seems less than impressed and even mentions that she knows its most likely poisonous. Despite this, the group unties the imposter and places the snake around her neck. Seeming fairly comfortable, the imposter says "I’ll be right back!" Liam, grabs her by the arm and says he will provide an escort. The imposter protests and tries to convince the party that Liam’s presence will just spook her contact. The party refuses to give in on this point and she finally agrees to let Liam come with her.

Liam and the prisoner enter Da Derga’s and take a table in the far corner. Dierdre enters two minutes later, taking up a position along the west wall in the center of the open air archways. Cinn Oir and Cian stay outside in the street with their eyes on all exits. They sit quietly for a bit and the imposter orders drinks telling Liam to "act natural". Several minutes later she turns to Liam and says "Don’t look, but he’s right over there in the corner!" She then stands and starts to cross the room. Liam jumps up to follow her. Dierdre, across the room senses something is very wrong. "Its a trap," she mutters, "get out of there!"

The imposter and Liam sit down at a table in the opposite corner where a man is having a drink by himself. He looks up at them, very surprised. The imposter tries to act nonchalant, speaking to the man as though she’d known him all her life. The man looks incredibly confused and very rattled. "Who the hell are you?" he says. Liam tries to get in on the conversation but the man continues to glare angrily at both of them. The imposter then leans over and whispers something into the man’s ear. Liam strains to hear it but can’t make anything out. The man’s eyes widen and he jumps up and heads for the door. The imposter quickly stands and playful chastises Liam saying, "I told you you’d spook him!" She then turns to run after the man. Liam quickly jumps up and grabs her wrist. In an instant, the imposter’s true intentions are revealed. With a deft move she reverses Liam’s grip and throws him to the floor. She then turns and makes a break for the door. Dierdre is already on the move, pushing her way through the crowd toward the open doorway which the imposter is headed for. Dierdre gets there just as the imposter breaks out into the street.

Meanwhile, Cinn Oir sees a man leave the building at a very fast pace. Something about him looks very suspicious to her so she jogs after him, calling for him to hold up. The man stops and turns with a look of exasperation on his face. He then sneers and makes a quick motion with his wrist. Suddenly, the street is black. Black beyond the darkest night. Cian is outside this Deeper Darkness and sees this bubble of blackness pop into existence. It covers the entire street. Unfortunately, just as he saw the imposter rushing out the door, it envelopes her as well. Dierdre immediately stops her pursuit, unwilling to rush headlong into the blackness. Liam on the other hand is intent on catching the prisoner. He jumps to his feet and casts Expeditious Retreat. With furious speed he bursts out of the tavern and into blackness.

There are scattered screams and shouts of astonishment form the darkness as several people on the street find themselves devoured in its impenetrable folds. Liam cruises headlong into the dark, plowing into someone along the way. Unable to tell who it may be, he continues on his run, aiming for the far side of the darkness. That way they can quickly cover all sides and find the imposter when she attempts to leave. Cian holds his position just outside the dark and sends his hawk up to spot anyone meeting the description of either the man or the prisoner leaving the area. Dierdre runs around the dark to the far side form Cian and takes up a position between the edge of the dark and the city gate. Cinn Oir meanwhile, finds herself on the ground, in pitch blackness (bowled over by Liam no less!). Unnervingly, she hears chanting and suddenly finds herself under attack. Sharp claws tear into her armor as she struggles to stand.

Liam wanders aimlessly for a bit, deciding to change direction in the dark and head for a different side than he originally intended. Cinn Oir tries to feel her way out, being clawed at from all sides. Cian meanwhile, holds his action, waiting for someone, ally or foe, to emerge. Suddenly, someone breaks the darkness on Dierdre’s side. It is the presumed "contact" the imposter led them to. Dierdre can see he is eyeing the gate and she catches a flash of metal armor, carefully disguised beneath layers of clothing. She calls for him to stop but decides not to wait for a response and launches a very effective volley (max damage!) of Magic Missiles at the man. Cian sees the burst of light just as his circling hawk alerts him to the emergence of the man. Cian charges toward the gate, taking a wild swing with his quarterstaff as he reaches the man.

In the dark, Liam finally emerges on the farside and stands his ground, looking for the imposter. Cinn Oir is still struggling to find her way out and trying not to give her unseen assailants to many openings in the process. The attacks from the darkness seem to never miss and come from all sides. Cinn Oir finally orders her Dire Weasel to attack so that she may buy some time to escape. The Dire Weasel comes up empty, but manages to draw the attention of the inhuman foes.

Outside the darkness, the contact steps back and casts a spell at Cian. Cian makes his save (and is fortunately not Blinded….the irony can be appreciated later…) The man also takes the time to shout something in a very strange language. Suddenly, Cinn Oir’s Dire Weasel is left alone, and two nasty creatures emerge from the darkness beside the contact. They are revolting blobs of molten flesh in a roughly humanoid shape. Their fingers end in cruel claws and their faces are twisted in a look of anguish. These creatures take up positions beside Cian. Undistracted by the new combatants, Dierdre continues to concentrate her fire on the man, unleashing another volley of Magic Missiles.

No longer being harassed, Cinn Oir emerges from the darkness and rushes to the sound of battle on the other side. Liam too hears the battle and gives up playing sentry on the far side of the darkness. With his Expeditious Retreat still effective, he manages to run headlong around the dark and still get in a charging attack on the contact! Liam strikes a good blow just as Cian casts Ghoul Touch. Cian misses and the man steps out of reach once again. He then orders the two disgusting creatures to attack Cian and they do so with incredible effectiveness, tearing into him with their wicked claws. The man then begins to cast. He fails his concentration check horribly (a one!) and Liam is close enough to make an Attack of Opportunity. Liam rolls a one for his attack and the enemy actually completes his spell! Suddenly, a glowing weapon appears in the air in front of Liam, striking him with a good blow.

Dierdre unloads yet another volley of Magic Missiles. Cinn Oir has now joined the battle as well. She calls for her animal companions (the Dire Weasel is in the dark and the Snake was last seen around the imposter’s neck. The snake is actually on the ground in the darkness and headed toward Cin Oir anyway.) Cinn Oir steps forward to take a crack at one of the nasty beasts flanking Cian. She strikes a good blow but it continues its assault. Both of the creatures hit home with their claws, seriously wounding Cian. Cian ignores the pain and steps forward to try another Ghoul Touch on the enemy spellcaster. Once again he misses. Liam bashes the enemy spellcaster with his staff, but fails to get his direct attention. The enemy instead draws a Khopesh and lunges at Cian with a ferocious strike. His devastating Smite hits home and Cian falls to the ground, bleeding. At the same time, the Spiritual Weapon lashes out at Liam, missing.

Dierdre casts yet another Magic Missile and then uses her movement to drag Cian back one space. Cinn Oir then uses her entire action to drag Cian to safety while fending off the blows of the disgusting creatures. As she does, her animal companions also emerge from the darkness and join her. Liam swings again, coming up empty this time. The enemy caster then takes a step forward, out of Liam’s threatened area and casts a spell. It is a timely Cure Moderate! (DM’s Note: The bad guy was at exactly zero hit points and he rolled near maximum hit points for his Cure Moderate much to the party’s dismay.) With a "poof", the two revolting humanoids disappear this round as well.

Dierdre draws her sword. Cinn Oir does as much healing on Cian as she can, bringing him back to consciousness. Cinn Oir sends her animal companions, the Dire Weasel and the Snake, in after the enemy. The snake comes up empty but the Dire Weasel manages to scratch through the caster’s scale armor. Liam advances and smacks the caster hard. Once again, the enemy looks in bad condition. But he isn’t out of the fight yet. With a deft step he leaves the threat range of the three combatants in direct melee with him and casts a spell directed at Liam. Suddenly, Liam finds he can no longer move! Victim of Hold Person. The floating blade takes a swat at him and easily connects.

The situation looks close so Dierdre casts Mage Armor and prepares to enter into melee if she has to. Cinn Oir casts Flame Blade and prepares to advance as well while her pets continue to try to finish the enemy off. They come up empty and the man moves in on Liam. He quickly maneuvers around behind Liam, placing his sword at Liam’s throat. "Back off or he dies!" calls the desperate man. As he does so, the Spiritual Weapon winks out of existence. Dierdre approaches cautiously, trying to negotiate while Cinn Oir calls off her animals, but stands poised to attack with her flame blade. Guards are also beginning to show up in droves now and demand to know what is going on. Dierdre intervenes, keeping the guards at bay and trying to talk Liam’s captor down. He continues to refuse to let Liam free and begins to try and slowly drag Liam’s immobile form toward the gate, demanding that they be opened.

Dierdre decides to take a chance. She mutters to Cinn Oir to be ready to keep Liam from dying and turns and fires a Magic Missile. It strikes the man but doesn’t bring him down. He growls and slits Liam’s throat, throwing to the ground for dead. Cinn Oir orders her weasel to attack and distract the man while she rushes to Liam’s side. Dierdre turns to the guards and shouts, very authoritatively, "Arrest that man!" They rush forward to take the man into custody as the weasel knocks him to the ground.

Cinn Oir drops to her knees at Liam’s side, ready to perform life saving healing on him. He is the perfect patient (being Held…) but try as she might, Cinn Oir finds no horrible bleeding to stem; no nasty open wounds along his throat. Nothing aside from a deep, but unvital cut along his collar bone. All she can think is "Wow…that reinforced armor really does work!" (DM’s Note: Liam took some bad damage and an auto critical from being helpless—which his armor DIDN’T deflect. He survival was actually due to a Fortitude save to avoid death…a save he made by a single point!)

Shortly, Liam can move once again and he rushes over to the dying foe. The enemy is down with a Dire Weasel breathing down his neck and several guards around him trying to determine if he is going to die or not. Liam pushes past them and tries to stabilize the man’s wounds. They are severe and Liam is unable to stop the bleeding. He instead casts a few Cure spells on the man to save his life but not before a dazed Cian has wandered over and removed something from the man. A holy symbol. A symbol of a Servant of the Flame. Getting a closer look he recognizes the man. (This is the same cleric from Session 14 which gave Cian his sight back and tried to force him to "work for him"...)

The session ends with Liam and Dierdre escorting the new prisoner to a cell. Gaelyn brushes by them (and seems to be in a foul mood). Cinn Oir and Cian stay outside Da Derga’s, searching for any sign of the imposter. None is found. Gaelyn eventually shows up on the scene and casts a Dispel Magic, removing the Deeper Darkness from the street. His first words to Cian and Cinn Oir are: "What the hell is going on here!?!"