"This is the cave?" The elaborately cloaked figure asked to the startled guide boy. The boy could muster only a short nod of acknowledgment before his eyes began to dart to and fro searching the side of the mountain for any sign of movement. The cloaked man noted the startled look and the dreary pale face of his guide without any apprehension. Surely this was the look of a scared unbeliever, once he purified this land he thought the faith of the All Father will illuminate the hearts of these fickle commoners.
"Stand back then boy and I shall alleviate this land of its sinister burden. No foul creature shall fell Nezbad the Wiser, the Vanquisher of the Shadowmen of Xaphul, the Blighter of the Fane of Darn, the Liberator of Lydastropol. No blasphemous fiend of the nether can stand in the path of those with the divine and righteous knowledge of the light." The great conjurer proclaimed as he pulled his magical scepter from his worn leather belt. Nezbad gestured the startled boy to clear from his path.
"This damnable creature shall be cast back into the primeval chaos whence it came and there shall it remain in agony for eternity." The conjurer parted with his ornate cloak and handed it to the boy before continuing on his way to the cave opening.
Nezbad approached the cave mouth where he stopped to stare unflinching into its stygian depths. He leaned his scepter against the cave wall and produced his conjurer's bowl. He burned incense of purity and sat down to fill his bowl with dried leaves of Niskus, then a dried tail of a Hectaphax. Casually he dumped saltpeter onto the confection. With the saltpeter in place he began to crush with an inscribed pestle until it was fine powder. He then poured incantation waters from the fountain of Bol and an embalming oil from Zoth upon the amalgamation which he then lit with the incense. The bowl lit at once and spewed red then blue flames as the incantation water boiled. The conjurer wafted the acrid smoke upon his face to purify his body and soul. When the magical mix's flame began to fetter out he tossed a handful of cremated remains of sacrificed priestesses of the All Father mixed with flame powder into the bowl creating a new bright flame which flared like a nova and died out instantly. Thick blue smoke rose from the bowl as the conjurer lowered his face over the bowl and covered it to the ground with his cloak hood. He took in long heavy breathes to ensure none of the naga was lost as he inhaled all of the azure smoke letting precious little escape through his cloaked head which he used as a shield to keep in the smoke.
The boy stared at the conjurer spellbound for he knew no one had ever seen a conjurer perform such an intricate ritual in the lands of Fhestrott since the birth of the mountains and the rivers. The ritual began to put confidence in the boy that the Fiend of Fhestrott would soon be conquered. No longer would the inhabitants under the King Miniatus have fear to roam about the lands at night. Surely the distant summons by King Miniatus to the Crystal City of Jant would be paying off before the sun set over the lands of Fhestrott.
Just as the boy began to believe the incantations would never end the conjurer rose slowly from the now depleted bowl and produced an iron lamp from his haversack. It took only a few tries with the smoldering incense to light the lamp which Nezbad now held out before him. He turned to the boy one last time and said "Boy, may the light of the All Father protect thee," before he picked up his scepter and entered the impenetrable darkness of the cave.
Nezbad attempted to wave off any fear he had as surely he knew the incantation of purity was preformed as described in the Scrolls of Epos and he knew no primeval beast could now harm him. Nezbad however did seem a little apprehensive about the small iron lamp which he held aloft before him. It produced little light and failed to illuminate deep enough into the cave, but just as well Nezbad thought for surely it illuminated himself just as it did his surrounding. Although he now felt the purity scroll protected him he knew that there was a large nether fiend living deep in the cave he knew not its exact genesis and encountering an unknown towering creature in the dark was not something Nezbad was looking foward to.
