These messages littered along the path were quite amusing, really.  'Gone gathering spell components', on a sign so old and beaten that nobody could possibly take it seriously.  Then came a variety of warnings, like 'No trespassing. Violators should notify next of kin. Have a pleasant day.', or 'Rumors of spike-filled pits along this path are almost totally false. Thank you for your caution.'<br/><br/>Her favorite was probably the one that rhymed, though.  'This ancient path --is cracked and paved --with the bones of those --who could not behave.'  You'd normally only see clever bits like that from among the forces of darkness.  To see it coming from a man who was a master wizard and widely known to be old enough to have seen civilizations fall...  Well, were they really sure he hadn't become some sort of lich at some point?  The irony would be ever so delicious if that were the case, even if it would make things more difficult for her in the upcoming battle.<br/><br/>Knocking on the door once?  No answer.  Twice?  Again, no answer.  A few more times at once, this time louder and more insistently?  She would wait for a little bit longer to see if there was an answer, but if there wasn't, she would proceed to her next course of action, which was to fire up an Augury (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/augury.htm) spell in order to determine her next<em>next</em>course of action.<br/><br/><em>Oh mighty and impersonal forces of cosmic destiny, I am considering unlawfully entering the tower of one Elminster Aumar, of Shadowdale, by ethereally phasing through the front door.  Weal or Woe?</em><br/><br/>The spell-like ability would take a full minute of concentration to pull off, of course, as properly entreating the impersonal forces of cosmic destiny required a certain degree of politeness for some reason.  As such, there was a slim chance that someone who had heard of a fear-causing fiend walking down Shadowdale's main street could make it to the tower's entrance in time to interrupt...<br/><br/>Edit: ((Demilich's Senses: Listen +59, Spot +69, mindsight 100 ft., omnidirectional vision (extends into ethereal plane), omnidirectional true seeing (Robe of Eyes and Hathran Mask), See in Darkness (Su), darkvision 120 ft.))