Any character with the Ritual Casting feature (or the

Ritual Caster feat) who spends 24 hours reading the

book can master the ritual described within. The ritual

takes 11 minutes to cast and requires incense and a vial

of unholy water (which are consumed during the perfor-

mance of the ritual). At the end of the ritual, a proxy of

Asmodeus appears and grants its summoner the benefit

of a commune spell. The proxy is formed of incense

smoke and resembles a pit fiend. A character must finish

a long rest before performing the ritual again.

Trapdoor. The trapdoor in the ceiling is the entrance

to the attic.

C23. ATTIC LANDING
A thick scent of sulfur pervades the attic. The only illu-
mination is a beam of light that shines feebly through a
shuttered window at the west end of the room.
This attic is soundproof as long as no doors are open.
Osvaldo's howling can be heard outside the attic only if
the t rapdoor between this room and area C22 and the
door between this room and area C24 are both open at
the same time. Additionally. c reatures that have telep-
athy can't communicate telepathically with creatures
outside the attic unless the doors are open.
Terenzio and Elzerina have heard howling coming
from the attic two or three times in their lives and are
curious about what lurks there.

C24. OSVALDO'S PRISON
If Ammalia Cassalante r or Victoro Cassalanter (see
appendix B) or both are present, the door to this room

<.:HAl'TER GI HELL Of A SUMMER

is unlocked but closed. Otherwise, it's locked shut. and

Victoro and Ammalia carry the only keys. When the

characters first open the door, read:

1

You are greeted with a wave of incoherent howling, as if

opening the door broke down a dam that had been hold-

ing back a madman's screams.

l

Osvaldo Cassalanter (see appendix B) shrieks and

moans at all hours of the day. He is trying desperately to

get someone to hear him and come to his rescue. If one

or both of his pare nts are here, he spits curses at them

as they weep before him.

Guarding the room are two imps in spider form. They

answer to Lord Cassalante r, and their job is to kill birds,

rats, and other vermin that find their way into the attic.

They attack anyone who tries to free Osvaldo or threat-

ens other family me mbers present.

The Cassalanter heir apparent is a soulless abomina·

lion thanks to his pare nts' thoughtless greed. His empty

shell of a body has been transformed into a chain devil

that his parents have imprisoned using his own chains.

A 10-foot-diameter pentagram has been burned into the

floor around him. A detect magic spell reveals a power-

ful aura of abjuration magic emanating from the symbol.

Osvaldo's chains are wrapped around the beams

and timbers that frame the room. He can't damage the

house, nor can he break his own chains. He can only