Deceived

With the Manticores safety behind them, the party headed down a short hallway. Another unlocked, untrapped door allowed them to enter a laviously outfitted room. Despite massive furniture, the room was inhabitted by a lone halfling. Qesnef introduced himself as a member of Snarla's adventuring party and said he had also been captured by Keraptis.

The party kept speaking with him while Leenia cast her detect lies ritual. Unfortunately, by the time she was done, there was little left to say and the party did not go back and confirm his previous statements.

Accepting Qesnef at his word, he did get them past the Manticores and other creatures trapped in the inverted pyramid as they headed back to the entrance.

As they approached the entrance, a black hooded figure stood were the sphinx had previously sat. He introduced himself as Keraptis and offered the party an alliance. First, he pointed out Acererak's plan, to bond with the force that animates all undead, and thus control them. He went on to tell them, they must stop the war as all that does is provide more "soldiers" for Acererak. Finally, he said for the alliance to be cemented, they must vist his Indoctrination Center to prove their commitment to the cause.

Knowing a visit to the Indoctrination Center would surely mean death, the party jumped to action. As combat began, Qesnef reverted to his true form, that of an Ogre Magi. Keraptis was replaced by a large two headed troll and another one could be seen coming down the hallway. Thinking quickly, Kuppies put a wall of fire down the center of the hallway, engulfing both trolls, and nullifying their ability to regenerate. Additionally, Leenia cast her Shield of Faith, increasing everyone's AC, and then summoned her Astral Defenders, which did an exceptional job of locking the Ogre Magi out of combat.

With the aid of the Wall of Fire, the party was able to quickly dispatch the trolls. TUrning it's attention to Qesnef, he knew he was seriously overmatched. Turning into a gaseous form, he fled back into the complex.

Searching through his possessions, the party found a Token of Keraptis. It is almost certainly used to allow access to some of his more secure locations.