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Eventually the PCs will be ready to meet the master. Having escaped, our would-be villains have passed Cardinal Thorn’s first test. The question now is will they join his organization and become his agents? Cardinal Thorn is a wily negotiator who has already researched a great deal about these prospective agents.

He will tailor his offer so that refusal is unlikely. Greed, revenge, ambition, devotion to Asmodeus -- he is prepared to cater to all these desires to ensure that these escapees become his servitors. You should tailor this speech to suit your PCs but here is an example of what Thorn might say.

At last Tiadora leads you to a beautifully appointed office richly decorated with dark wood and sumptuous brocade tapestry. Sitting in a leather high-backed chair is a devilishly handsome fellow who smiles as you enter. “I believe you to be the first to ever escape from Branderscar Prison. Well done! Of course, you had help from the outside,” he says with a wicked smile.

“But enough with the pleasantries. You must be curious why I’ve helped you. Rest assured this is no random act of altruism. I have brought you here for a reason. My name is Cardinal Adrastus Thorn. I am the last high priest of Asmodeus left on the island of Talingarde. Once the Prince of Nessus was rightly revered alongside the other great powers. Now, the king of Talingarde has become a puppet to Mitran fanatics who wish to destroy any religion that does not bow to their insipid sun god.

“For their blasphemy, I will see the same people who imprisoned and condemned you suffer. I understand what you went through for I have faced it myself.” With that, he pulls down the sleeve of his robe and reveals his own runic ‘F’ brand. “I am going to burn Talingarde to the ground and from the ashes I will build a new nation that knows its rightful master. I cannot do this alone. I seek servants worthy of our Infernal Father’s majesty. Have I found them in you?”

He rises and his eyes flash with hellfire and divine purpose. “Join me! Serve me well in this holy endeavor and I will raise you up in the eyes of gods and men. I will make you princes of the new Talingarde. Today, swear fealty to me and to Asmodeus.

“Put aside forgiveness and I shall give you vengeance. Put aside mercy and be made powerful. Put aside peace and become my harbingers of war. What say you? Will you swear your allegiance or will you burn with the rest of the blind fools?”

The Cardinal rises. "Well done. You are now the Ninth and final Knot. The first act is complete." While you are still wondering what exactly he means by that, the Cardinal hands each of you a small metal ornament. It is a brooch or pin, apparently made of iron, in the shape of an ancient numeral: IX.

"This is the sign of your new allegiance. Wear it at all times."

The Sigil of the Ninth:

The pin can be worn either as a brooch (occupying the neck slot) or as a belt buckle (occupies the belt slot). It has two magical properties:

-- by touching it and concentrating, you can change its appearance to anything you like: silver, gold, wood, whatever, carved or worked in any pattern. The only constant is that it cannot be made invisible; it will still appear as either a brooch or a belt buckle.

-- anyone attempting to cast any sort of detection or divination spell on you or any of your possessions must make a DC 25 Concentration check or fail. This power does not affect anyone who is wearing or holding one of the pins, so you can still cast divinations on each other. (As a practical matter, this won't be more than a speed bump for high level characters. But during the early stages of your career, it will protect you against casual Detect Evils from a low-level cleric or paladin.)

The next half hour passes quickly. Zarko takes measurements of each of you, as if measuring you for clothes. He looks in your mouths and eyes, thumps your chests, examines your teeth and nails, and takes blood, saliva and hair samples, which he mixes on the spot with various reagents. He taps and pokes you with various wand-like devices.

Throughout most of this process, Zarko is in a state of such profound, utter, pants-wetting fear that you almost, almost feel sorry for him. He keeps glancing over at Tiadora and then whimpering. There are only two moments at which he briefly forgets to be terrified...

Comments by Zarko:

Sir Edmin: Human male, standard, standard, standard. Nothing of interest.

Jax: Para-human male, second phase demonic influence, probable Type G, less likely Type D. Seems to lack the Type D specialized endocrine system. Could confirm with dissection, not possible at this time. Nonstandard, nonstandard, standard.

Bref: Goblin male, standard, standard. Deformed caput and exaggerated dentition but within two standard deviations of goblin racial mean. Little of interest.

Dren: Human male, standard, standard, standard. Nothing of interest.

Zimu: Human... For the first time, Zargo forgets to be terrified. He stares openly at Zimu's chest, breathing heavily, for several seconds. human... female. Second phase celestial influence, complicated by, unknown. Type, uh, A. Likely Type A. Zargo is still breathing heavily and staring. precise nature of complication cannot be determined without closer...

"Zargo." Tiadora does not raise her voice, but Zargo cringes so hard he almost slams his chin on the ground. "human female celestial phasetwo standard nonstandard standard yes moving right along mistress yes yes"

Grumblejack: Para-ogre male, third phase demonic or daemonic influence. Type unclear, possibly E, G or H. Reaction times well above reported ogre racial mean. Non-rugose subdermal plates. No sign of neurological consequence.

The Judge: Human... male... For the second time Zargo seems to forget his terror for a few moments. Multiple anomalies include dentition, dermis, digestive, likely endocrine. Test positive for negative energy but not, repeat not, standard undead. Positive for all other life tests including heartbeat and breath. Etiology unclear. Precise status unclear. Zargo stares hungrily at the Judge. "What are you? So many questions. Who were your parents? What were your parents? How old are you? What do you eat? Who do you like to have sex with? Do you like to have sex? I'd like to take a sample of your brain tissue --" Suddenly he glances over at Tiadora again and his terror returns. "clarification impossible without dissection not possible at this time standard nonstandard standard end report"