Waterdeep(Some 20 years prior to the Gnoll siege)
Kempo was startled from his evening devotions by a knock at the door to his quarters. Rising from his knees, he opened the door to find Healer Androzanius in his armour. "Come quick!", said the healer, "Vicar Anderson needs every one of us. The gnolls are making a foray into Waterdeep sewers again". "I advised the Vicar we needed to block that route, Androzanius", replied Kempo, hastily dressing into his mail shirt. Picking up his shield and mace, Kempo followed the wizened old healer out of his quarters and down the stone corridor towards Anderson's offices. The young cleric had been in the service of Kord for just one year, and he ran with the enthusiasm of youth towards the fight. When they reached the offices of the vicar, breathless, he was already waiting for them. "You two took long enough", said Anderson, who turned and led them down a flight of stone steps towards the sewers. "The other novitiates are already assembled and waiting for us".
It took abour ten minutes to navigate the sewer system and find the assembled Clerics. Kempo nodded to his peers, who looked relieved at his arrival. He had already, in such a short space of time, demonstrated both his prowess with his weaponry, and his cool head on a battlefield. The gnolls had been making forays into Waterdeep for some months, most likely, Kempo had informed Anderson, to search for weaknesses prior to a protracted siege. Anderson usually dismissed the young novitiates worries, stating they were probably just scavenging for food. "There's nothing between the ears of a gnoll, Kempo. Take a look next time you smash open the skull of one", he would say. But the forays had started increasing in frequency, and even Anderson had started to consider the possibility that Kempo was right.
Anderson raised his arm, and a hush descended upon the excited clerics, huddled together in a narrow stone sewer passageway deep within the underworld of Waterdeep. In the sudden quiet, the sound of footsteps came through the darkness. Kempo narrowed his eyes and squinted, trying to see what was coming up the passageway to meet them, but saw only shadows cast by flickering torches. Voices were talking in a language he did not understand, but recognised as the tongue of gnolls. Kempo frowned. He leaned in and whispered to Anderson, "They are making a lot of noise for someone who is trying to sneak into Waterdeep". Anderson nodded his agreement, and turned back to face the oncoming gnoll party. While the gathered clerics all prayed silently for Kord to grant them success, Kempo was making plans for the battle. Unusually for a cleric, Kempo was not a very religious man. His devotions were performed perfunctorily and without ceremony or passion, and on more than one occasion he had neglected them, only to find Kord silent later in the day when help was needed. It would be a short fight. The gnolls always came underprepared for these forays, and Kempo smiled without mirth as he contemplated the average intellect of your average gnoll.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a cry that went up in the gnoll party, as they spotted the clerics and made their charge towards them. Kempo counted about fifteen of the filthy creatures, against twenty of his peers, and surmised the fight would be over even before it had begun. Anderson raised his arm to signal readiness for the charge, when all of a sudden an unearthly howl rang out in the sewers, deafening the clerics that stood, weapons raised, ready to meet the gnolls. The gnoll raiding party also faltered in their charge, and started to cast nervous (to Kempo, did they look frightened?) looks behind them. Out of the gloom a dark robed figure stalked up the sloping tunnel toward the gnoll party, and in the figures wake was something that belonged to Kempo's worst nightmares. A huge, seething black mass of muscle and sinew was making it's way now past the robed figure and stalking towards the gnolls. It's eyes were smoldering red fire, and it had two wicked looking horns either side of its temples. Criss crossing the demons enormous chest were wicked looking chains, and in it's right hand it carried an axe decorated with human skulls. It's lips were drawn back into a snarl, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth, and once again it let out that inhuman roar as it reach the now terrified gnoll party.
The cleric party also began to falter. "HOLD THE LINE!" shouted Anderson, despite his own terror at the demonic form that was coming toward them. Many of the novitiates were now open mouthed with terror, and those that were not rooted to the spot were frantically praying for Kord to deliver them. Kempo found that he was strangely not terrified of the demonic monstrosity, and watched with a certain amount of fascination as it began to tear apart the gnoll raiding party one by one. Terrified gnolls began to scatter, but in the cramped conditions of the sewer tunnel they had nowhere to go. The sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh, as the demon ate its way through the raiders, brought up the evening meal in one or two of the clerics, who by this time had also started to back away from the monstrosity. Vicar Anderson watched the carnage with frightened eyes, then turned, pushed his way through the novitiates and set off at a pace back up the tunnel towards the entrance grate. The clerical party took it's lead from the vicar, and turned and fled with him. Only Kempo remained in the tunnel, and when the demon had finished slaughtering the gnoll raiders, it turned it's attention to Kempo. For his part, Kempo did not move as the demon bore down on him, watching with a kind of stunned fascination at the creature that now threatened to take his life. Then, with a suddenness that took Kempo completely by surprise, the demonic form withered and then vanished, an anguished cry on its lips as the robed figure sent it back to the underworld.
The robed man approached Kempo, and removed his hood. He had a neatly trimmed beard, a bald head, and wore the vestments more usually associated with a clerical order than a necromancer. Looking Kempo directly in the eye from three feet away, the figure smiled and said, "Novice Kempo. I have been looking for you for a very long time...."
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