If you haven't read "The Necromancer Diaries: The Rogue Encampment" I suggest you click here to do so before reading this.

Much to my dismay, I arrived in Lut Gholein. It was abysmally hot and and arrid. My skeleton Steve squeeked when he walked because his joints were too dry and my poor blood golem Gork was covered with dark, hard clumps of scabs from where he'd clotted from the heat. As I stared at the slack jawed yokels who inhabited Lut Gholein I wondered what type of imbeciles would build a city on the edges of the desert? It boggled the mind. But I couldn't spend all day pondering the inbred, backwards inhabitants of Lut Gholein. I had work to do.

I headed towards a nearby inn/tavern where I heard I could get a room. In front of the inn a big argument was going on.

A woman was shouting at 5 spear carrying men "I won't have you sitting around my inn, drinking yourselves into a stupor while that mummy is still running around. What are you men doing about it? You're no guards, you're lazy shiftless, layabouts. My husband and son were killed by that mummy while the 5 of you were sitting around drinking grog. You are lazy, shiftless, brainless, sacks of manure."

I laughed out loud at the tongue lashing the men were receiving and thought "If a mummy killed her husband, he probably got off lucky."

One of the men heard me laugh and turned towards me furious "You think this is funny? You think you're a big man because you are a necromancer? I think you need a lesson in..."

I interrupted "Gork..throw." Gork grabbed the man and tossed him across the street head over heels where he smashed into a wall and dropped to the ground like a paralyzed eagle.

Amazingly, he staggered to his feet "So what now necromancer? I have fought you necromancer and yet, I am not dead!!"

A bone spear materialized in my hand "Oh, so you are I am not dead". It's time for you to meet your second cousin on your mother's side, DEAD!" I hurled the spear through his chest pinning him to the wall. The other 4 men were watching with mouths open in awe. I looked towards them "Are you 4 still here??" All 4 of them turned and ran away. I looked back towards the woman. She was looking at me as well.

She sauntered over "Wow, you handled those bullies. It's nice to have a real man in town. You are looking for a room, correct?"

I stammered "Uh yeah..but.." She purred "Consider your room to be free since you are hunting for the mummy." She walked closer "And ask for anything you want from the bar, and I mean anything. Did you know I won the Lut Gholein Beauty contest 20 years ago. Not many men can say they've had Atma, "Ms. Lut Gholein" bring drinks up to their room."

I cringed, any woman who could try to seduce a man 20 years younger than her, in the middle of the day, 30 seconds after he had killed a man was no one to take lightly. However I never considered taking her up on her offer. "Ms. Lut Gholein" now had a big potbelly and had dried out like a raisin in the sun in the last 20 years apparently. She was moving perilously close to me. I considered having Steve take her out but a suddenly her eyes grew large. She audibly gulped and said "I have to go Necromancer. Your room will be prepared." She looked at something behind me and quickly ran into the inn.

A loud voice rang out..."NECROMANCER. Are you the man who killed Big Herc?" I turned and saw two enormous barbarians. The first was 7ft tall and 400 pounds if he was an ounce. He was covered in bear skins and was holding two enormous axes, each of which probably weighed 40 pounds. The second barbarian was nearly as large as the first but was much muscular and etched. He had a large, filthy, red beard that looked as if it had 1/2 a bowl of corn and peas stuck in it. He carried a gigantic stone hammer that looked as if it could smash through a wall. These were no piddly guardsmen. Steve and Gork sensed my wariness and moved into position for battle.

I replied "Yes, I killed Big Herc. He died screaming like a pig." I mentally prepared to summon a bonespear and cast it as they came at me. But the larger one started to laugh and the other high fived him. The two of them broke into some sort of spontaneous dance I've since heard called a "snoopy" dance by certain eldritch scholars. I asked "What's the meaning of this?"

The large one responded "I am called Stone. My brother Pongo and I have been pursuing Big Herc for defiling the sacred honor of our sister. He used his sweet, sweet, words to convince her to give her maidenhood. But then when it was time to marry her and join our tribe he refused and ran away!!! He rejected our sacred customs! He refused to toil in our fields for 7 years! He would not beat himself daily with thorn bushes to toughen his skin! He would not run naked through the snowbanks of our lands to show his patronage to our God! We have been hunting him for months. When we ran into the merchant Warriv we asked hoping that a merchant such as he might of heard of a barbarian in these civilized lands and so he had! He sent us to you Necromancer!"

I sighed. Mental Note #1: Kick Warriv in the @ss for talking to much. Mental Note #2: Never, ever, ever try to pick up women in whatever Godforsaken part of the world these guys were from. "Well Stone..and Pongo is it?" The red haired barbarian shook his head up and down like a pitbull shaking a cat "I'm glad I could do you a service. But I need to go about the business of hunting down Diablo. You may go back to your lands knowing the mark against your sister's honor has been avenged."

Stone looked puzzled "Oh no Necromancer. You have done us a great service, we would not dishonor ourselves by going home while you face danger alone. As long as you are in Lut Gholein we will be your bodyguards!"

I shook my head "No, no, let's not go overboard here. I'm perfectly fine, in no danger whatsoever. I know you're probably anxious to get back home so you can beat each other with thorns or run naked through the snow or whatever it is you barbarians do..so get to it. Don't worry about me." Just then 20 guardsmen rounded the corner.....sh*t.

Their leader spoke out "Necromancer, you are under the arrest for killing a guardsman. Come with us quietly and you won't get hurt." All of this was starting to annoy me.

As I opened my mouth to speak I was cut off by Stone "You dare to try to arrest our friend? You must be fools to face 3 such as us."

The guardsmen all readied their spears. Their leader who I later learned (at his funeral) was named Greiz " So you won't come quietly eh?"

I chimed in "Let's not get too crazy here, maybe we should just all have a beer and.."

Again Stone shouted over me "You threaten us? You FOOLS!! We will chop all of you into to tiny pieces. We will break your backs like twigs. We'll tear your still beating hearts out of your corpses and eat them in front of you."

I shook my head in puzzlement "Look these guys don't speak for me, I'm not eating anybodies hearts or any other body parts so let's just..."

Stone Screamed "ATTACK!!" and Pongo followed up with a "GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Both of them charged and the guardsmen met them in combat. I motioned to Steve and Gork and we waded into the frey as well. It was either help these two idiots or go to jail and I had no intentions of spending any time in the pokey....

The battle was a bloodbath. Every last guardsman died in a frenzy of whirling axes, hammers, and bone spears. Stone and Pongo wanted to burn the entire city down as revenge for the guardsmen's "cowardly" attack on us. When they came up with that idea I whacked both of them across the knuckles with my wand which they quickly came to call my "learnin' stick" and I somehow got them under control. I wasn't a big fan of having these two big goons around and I sent both of them into the sewers in search of the mummy that was haunting the city. Atma went personally to negotiate with the "Sultan" of this "city" for my freedom. I told her that there was no chance the Sultan would let me slide for killing 20 of his guardsmen. But she told me that everyone hated Greiz and his mercenaries and that she and the king had a "special relationship" and not too worry too much. If we could get rid of the mummy and free the area from the influence of Diablo, that would be enough.

Unfortunately, Pongo and Stone returned from the sewers. I was fairly sure they had managed to kill the mummy because Pongo had a lot of bandages slung over his shoulder. He was actually chewing on one of them like a cow chewing on cud which was kind of disconcerting.

Stone spoke "We killed the mummy! It was a great victory for.."

I cut him off, "You killed the mummy, yah, yah, yah. Well have you had enough of this bodyguard crap now?"

Stone crossed his arms "No we will follow you into Hell itself if need be."

I smiled "Fine then. You two will have to be fully versed in what we're doing, that's why I've gotten you two a room with my good friend Deckard Cain." I waved the old man over "He'll tell you all about the Horadric staff we need to assemble. Make sure to pay attention because he has a lot of wisdom."

Cain wondered over, put his arm around each man, and said "We have a lot to discuss my friends, let's head up to our room. You know big fella, you remind me of my friend Griswold."

Stone looked a Cain questioningly "Griswold, who's Griswold?" I laughed out loud, now he'd done it.

I heard Cain talking as they all headed up the stairs "Griswold was a fine man, a blacksmith by trade. I remember when Griswold was born. The stars were in a strange formation that year and we were keeping a close eye on all the babies that were born. There were 23 babies that were born that year and each had a different name. There was Griswold, Buckram, Tristan, Yasmina, and..wait don't help me I'll remember them all.." Pongo looked back at me..he looked like a badger ready to gnaw his own leg off to get out of a trap.

I yelled up the stairs after them "And both of you take baths, you smell so bad you could kill a muskrat at 50 ft."

It was still dark when I woke up the next morning so I went back to bed. It seemed as if it was hours later when I again awoke, yet it was still dark outside. As I went downstairs I noticed the inn was full of people. I thought that odd given that the sun hadn't even come up.

Atma ran over to speak with me "Necromancer, Jerhyn our sultan has pardoned the death of Greiz's men. If you help us restore the sun by destroying the Viper Temple in the Valley of the Snake."

I shook my head in suprise "Restore the sun? The whosit temple in the valley of the whatsit? What are you talking about?" Then I realized what was going on. The darkness had been caused by some group of snake worshipers and I was expected to take away from my precious time hunting down Diablo to take care of it. The things you have to do just because you kill 20 people. I said "Look, I'm trying to hunt down the Prince of the Pit himself, Diablo. I don't have time for these little side quests. Have you people considered that it being dark all the time might be a good thing? God knows it sure is cooler around here."

Atma pouted "The sultan insists that this must be done for him to drop the charges."

I pondered for a moment "What if I sent Stone and Pongo? They're pretty much expendable and I can keep hunting down Diablo in the meanwhile."

Atma insisted "No the sultan says you personally, must go."

I shook my head, it just never ends. I then saw a bleary eyed Stone and near drooling with boredom Pongo coming down the stairs with a still talking Cain. I snapped my fingers to get their attention "Hey you two, I'm getting ready to go fight a horde of snake people in the dark. Are you game."

Light came into Stone's eyes "Right now, we'd take on Diablo himself armed with rusty spoons to get out of here."

I stood up "Right then...grab your gear and let's go. First the Valley of the Snake, and then Diablo..." Steve, Gork, Pongo, Stone and I then walked out the door and started jogging towards the Valley of the Snake....

You can read part 2 by clicking here.