Looking up at the dark-clad woman atop the Daern's instant fortress, Blaygus called in reply, "TO TELL YOU SOMETHING YOU'D BE INTERESTED IN HEARING, ABOUT A RECENT SIGHTING OF SOMEONE--"
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On Waterday 12th of Flocktime, Blaygus travels to the extraplanar, torus-shaped metropolis of Sigil (SIH-gill, meaning the city, as opposed to SIH-jill, a cryptic symbol), using a secret portal and key she knows of in the Nyr Dyv region. At Sigil, she searches around the outer perimeter of the great rubble heap that was formerly the Armory, and locates an instant fortress--one of those magical extra-dimensional portable iron towers invented by the archmage Daern--and raps soundly on its rust-speckled iron facade with her staff.
Blaygus expounds at length on why she has come to House Lassiter ....: Blaygus gets straight to the point of her visit to House Lassiter in Saltmarsh: "Your family have been most gracious hosts, Lord Erlick. I have come to your ancestral home to warn your father, Lord Egan Lassiter, that a dangerous fugitive and enemy of the faith has been reported to be currently traveling around in the realms of the Flanaess. He is a formidable demon-spawn cambion named Ely Cromlich--a very skilled warrior, and more recently, a necromancer of modest ability. Cromlich played an undeniable role in Our Maimed Lord's ascension to godhood. A powerful member of the planar faction called the Doomguard, for more than a century Ely controlled Sigil's massive Armory. If you have not heard of Sigil or its Armory, I can elucidate."
However, Blaygus does not wait to hear whether or not the party knows of Sigil or its Armory, but continues at once: "Within the Armory stand four portals to some of the foulest regions of the Inner Planes, one of which leads to a smoldering realm of endless ash. While the Doomguard hold a redoubt on that sea of dead embers, they once controlled Vecna's nearby skull-shaped fortress Cavitius, but were driven from it when the Arch-Lich claimed it as his own. In their retreat, the Doomguard were forced to abandon many of their dearest treasures and have ever since sought a chance to retake the tainted citadel. Thus, when a period of inactivity was reported, it was Ely Cromlich and a taskforce of the Doomguard's most capable warriors who were ordered to infiltrate the fortress and recover what they could." Blaygus pauses to sip red wine from a goblet before continuing: "None know what truly happened at Cavitius, but only Cromlich returned alive. In the wake of his later acts, some believe the half-fiend came face-to-face with Vecna himself and either sold his service to the demigod in return for his life or was destroyed--his spirit being replaced by something more inclined to Vecna's will. Either way, Ely Cromlich returned to Sigil serving a new master. In the months and years that followed, Cromlich secretly studied magic and--with the help of numerous powerful demons--laid powerful symbols of chaos and disruption within the walls of the Armory. When war came to Sigil, he acted to hasten the destruction of many of the city's more lawful factions by tainting the area around the Armory with chaotic energy, inciting riots, and open fighting with an incursion of demons. During this chaos, though, he was killed. His sacrifice proved sufficient, however, and when Vecna sought to enter Sigil, the city's fundamental wards barring deities were weakened enough to allow him entry. For Cromlich's work, the ascending god restored the half-fiend to life." Pausing only long enough to quaff the rest of the red wine in her goblet, Blaygus goes on to give a detailed physical description of the fugitive: "A master of many weapons, the greatest of which is his own cunning mind, Ely Cromlich stands just over six feet tall, with jet black skin, short white hair, and sharply pointed ears. Most notable, though, are the terrible scars on his right side, where the demonkin was struck by a sphere of annihilation. When Vecna returned Cromlich to life, he created a golden right leg and arm to replace his servants lost appendages, as well as a golden left hand and eye to forever display the fiend's allegiance. Even crippled, Cromlich is deadly and sly, but he remains embittered at having lost so much in the service of our admittedly fickle god." Blaygus holds out her empty goblet, and Lord Egan refills it from a carafe of the finest red wine. Sipping more of the vintage, she concludes her dissertation: "Ely Cromlich is very dangerous to our faith. He wanders the planes, hated and hunted by survivors of his faction and the agents of innumerable deities. After his ascension, Vecna largely abandoned his minion, although for some unknowable purpose he does maintain a shield over Cromlich that acts as a permanent nondetection spell. Despite the aid he personally provided our god, few in our cult know of the half-fiend's acts and he bears little status. Many of those who have learned of his role in the Maimed Lord's apotheosis suspect that he knows the secrets behind Vecna's ascension to godhood, and seek him out to prevent an influx of undeserving deities, or to learn how to achieve their own apotheoses. Others believe that knowing how the Maimed Lord achieved his power means Cromlich might know how to strip Vecna of his godhood. In either case, Ely Cromlich might know the greatest secret in all the multiverse and, for that, he cannot be allowed to live."
Late afternoon (~6:00 PM) on Godsday 11th of Flocktime, after concluding their surveys of Bluelode and the Citadel of Salt, the party is transported to the noble House of Lassiter in Saltmarsh by Countess Olivia via her casting a greater teleport spell. Erlick's ancestral abode, House Lassiter, is a classic and stately mansion that towers on the precipice of the sea cliff overlooking Saltmarsh's harbor. Gargoyles perch on its eaves and lightning rods jut from its rooftops. A coat of arms over the gate depicts a crossed dagger and key on a field of gold. The Lassiters are one of the original families of Saltmarsh, descended from Moria Lassiter, one of the adventurers who founded the town. They remain active in town, particularly in the merchants’ guild, the Saltmarsh Playhouse, and the Saltmarsh Museum. They also have ties to the Lilybrook Orphanage. Egan Lassiter is the current ruling noble (and Erlick's father). His opinions often cause great arguments in the town council (of which he is a member), and he has nearly as many enemies as friends in town. House Lassiter Secrets known to Erlick, which he may share with his companions at his discretion:
The Lassiter family is in fact one of the deadliest dangers in Saltmarsh. They all secretly worship Vecna, and Egan Lassiter is their high priest. Many others belong to the cult, and they meet in catacombs carved out of the bedrock beneath the mansion. A fairly large underground temple of Vecna exists below as well, and the cultists have gathered a shocking number of undead and outsider minions to protect their secrets. One of their greatest secrets is the founding of the cult of Graz’zt in Lilybrook Orphanage. The Lassiters plan to reveal this cult through their agents if they believe their own truths might be exposed, and hope that the uproar over the demon cultists will draw attention away from themselves. At House Lassiter, Erlick and his companions are warmly greeted by Lord Egan and the rest of Erlick's almost pure Suel-blooded family--his alluring but sadistic older sister, Abilene, and his shy younger sister Elzabette. They introduce their current guest, Blaygus, a tall woman with dark-blonde hair and somewhat masculine features, garbed in a black robe and carrying a staff of rune-engraved ash topped with a large, icosahedron-cut onyx. After Erlick assures Lord Egan and his guest that they may speak freely among his companions, who are aware of the Lassiter's religious faith and sworn to absolute secrecy, Lord Egan admits that his guest, Blaygus, is a high-ranking member of the cult of Vecna, and while she confesses that she has little interest in leadership, her competence and knowledge often result in her filling in for absent leaders in the cult. Blaygus herself confirms this, and frankly confides, "I initially chose the cult of Vecna to gain easy access to the secrets of lichdom, but I have since become reliant on its knowledge base. Unlike many members, I have managed to remain unentangled by a web of secrets due to a combination of forthrightness about my own personal information and an extensive series of pointless falsehoods about myself which I use to confuse those who would try to gain power over me--good luck sussing out the difference between what is true and what is false."
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