We quickly wrapped up the ghost story by getting a reward: two Candles of Tomorrow. Then we were off to continue our serious adventure involving devils and stuff. Oh, and we also got an infernal puzzle box from the DM. This marvelous 3d printed contraption kept attention off the main happenings for a long while, and we somehow opened it to find M&Ms inside.
Stepping out into the courtyard at Candlekeep, we were greeted by Fisk and Rheia, waiting patiently to take us to the archmage. Traveling through Candlekeep is a wonder by itself, as we marched through varied biospheres stacked next to each other haphazardly; one tower had a whole pirate ship on its roof, with undead crew members toiling at cleaning the deck.
Archmage Silvira was already hard at work on the box, and so was a small, cloaked marten. The beast was standing on its hind legs and chatting away amiably. Apparently, Traxigor is a mage and an expert on this sort of affairs.
We got a small lore dump talking to Silvira. We found out that cultists worship devils to pave their way towards a contract selling their souls; devils do it because the souls become their soldiers and slaves. We were relieved that Zariel could not reach us in this place, as Candlekeep is shielded against teleportation. And finally, that the talking shield Barbosa is carrying is a link to Gargauth, a former ruler of Avernus. Great.
The final ally in the work turned out to be a flying elephant named Lulu. This one had joined the Hellriders in their original charge into Avernus, only to loose its memory and wander the hells for centuries before getting back.
So much trauma to unpack.
Anyway, it took about a week for the eggheads to safely open the box, during which we delved into Candlekeep's libraries to do research. Fun facts coming up next session. We also used our downtime to craft potions and scrolls.
Finally, we went back to Silvira's to witness the box being open. Inside was a large platinum plate engraved in Infernal, but Silvira was kind enough to translate.
We already knew the theory, but this confirmed that the moron Thavius promised the soul of every citizen of Elturel to Zariel in exchange for deliverance from the vampires. As Rheia fell to her knees weeping, Silvira also showed us the text of the Creed Resolute, spoken by every citizen of Elturel.
We talked to the mages a bit more, and got to the conclusion that we must save the residents of Elturel - at least, whoever is still alive in the Hells and above. To accomplish this heroic task, we must retrieve the copy of the contract held by Zariel, engraved into a matching tablet - the original chunk of platinum had been broken in two. Then, we must either convince the devil to rescind the bargain, invalidate it somehow, or find someone powerful enough to break it through magic. Not a happy prospect, but we are heroes, damn it.
At this point, the DM broke out his custom printed Avernus themed DM-screen.
Help for the perilous journey ahead came in the form of a map of Avernus, drawn by an insane wizard.
The journey itself was to be made possible by Traxigor, who possessed knowledge of inter planar travel, and had a tuning fork tuned to Avernus, along with a desire for adventure and a seeming lack of self preservation. Lulu also volunteered to accompany us, in hopes of restoring his memories. The original idea was a quick scouting trip into Avernus, lasting only a day so Traxigor can planeshift us back as soon as possible.
The gods themselves chipped in by offering each of us a custom made upgradeable weapon. I chose a celestial dagger, and named it 'Compassion'.
Finally, Silvira gave us a lore dump on soul coins, and I spent some time talking to the resident of our particular coin, a country boy named Robert. Apparently, the fool decided to visit a big city hoping for a change of luck and his lot in life. He was roped into a devil worshipping cult, unknowingly sold his soul and then immediately got stabbed in the back to awaken inside a soul coin. Pitying the fool, Triss promised him that we'll try and rescue him as well. At least he can serve as an external memory unit while in my pocket.
Sigh.
The next morning, us and the whole circus went outside the city gates, accompanied by a large group of gawkers. I gave my autograph to a gate guard, and then we formed a circle and Traxigor moved us to the city of Elturel in Avernus.
The atmosphere changed immediately, as we were greeted by the shock of high temperatures and the black sun Companion in the sky above us. We were indeed in Elturel, but the city was a ruin of its former self. We noticed a citadel standing proud up ahead, but we were immediately distracted by a woman's scream. A mother and her two children ran out of a ruined building, with three bearded devils in close pursuit. Valiant adventurers that we are, we stepped up to the challenge. Except the cowardly Traxigor, who immediately cast Timestop and disappeared. So much for our high level caster friend.
I opened up with a Web, stopping one devil in its tracks and keeping the other two from reaching us. Rheia got hurt, but nobody else was damaged and two devils quickly died. The last one surrendered.
We interrogated the devil but he wasn't much help. He knew that the city is held by 8 chains slowly pulling it into the river Styx, and that it's supposedly off limits. That was obviously untrue, as not only they had come in search of souls and slaves, but the fugitive woman herself told us that devils had slaughtered much of the population. With no further info to be found, we quickly executed the devil, even as it tried to run away.
Gathering up our remaining companions, we started off towards the seemingly intact citadel in the distance in search of allies, though nobody was to be fully trusted.
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