Mother of Flies - Session 36: An Unlikely Ally

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Toilday, 19 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

As the Returners gather up the surviving Council thieves, they hear a noise in the alley beside Goren One-Ear’s shop, accompanied by muffled cursing in a strange, gravelly, fey voice. Investigating, the Returners are surprised to see a small gnome-like creature stumbling through the rubble in the alley in heavy iron boots. The fey creature has a mad look in its eyes, and a long, filthy white beard trailing to its waist. It’s red cap drips what looks like blood in sticky rivulets down its face, and it wields a scythe much too large for its small stature.

“Well, looks like you didn’t need my help cleaning up the mess here did ye? Pity, that. Mayhaps ye’ve got some more killin’ that needs dealing with?

“Dog Tongue’s the name, pleasure to meet ye? The Mother of Flies has heard of ye, the Returners ye calls yerselves? Seems ye and Mother ‘ave a common enemy in this group of meddlers that calls itself the Council of Thieves. She’d very much like to entertain ye at her abode in the Hagwood and discuss certain matters of family, nostalgia, and bloody vengeance.”

The creature calling itself Dog’s Tongue punctuates its speech with titters of mad laughter, and has a nasty habit of licking its cracked and split lips with a long, mottled tongue, clearly the source of its namesake. After more conversation with Dog Tongue and some interrogation of the captured Council thieves, the group decides to take the Redcap up on its offer and pay a visit to the Mother of Flies, the ancient hag that resides in a great tree called the Maggot Tree in the centre of the Hagwood. Boecca, especially, is interested in the venture as a condition of his atonement. Before turning the Council thieves into the dottari authorities, the Returners learn that the assassins were based out of a Council-house called Walcourt, a ruin located in the Rego Laina district of the Parego Regicona. They were sent by the Council usurpers (agents of Chammady and Eccardian Drovenge) to silence Goren One-Ear, a one-time ally of the Council old-guard. When the Council thieves learned from the pesh merchant that he was to meet several of the famous Returners, they saw an opportunity to curry favour with the Drovenge siblings and set up an ambush. Under interrogation by Boecca (with some unwanted help from the overzealous Dog Tongue), Maglin, the Council assassin, reveals some information on the residents of Walcourt. Maglin indicates that the place exists as a training ground for Council recruits, and that he took orders from one called Sandor, a mighty spellmaster of the guild and wielder of strange magicks.

Having learned this valuable information, and the location of Walcourt, the party decides to accompany Dog’s Tongue the following day and pay a visit to the Mother of Flies first, curious as to how the ancient hag’s goals could possibly coincide with their own.

Wealday, 20 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

The Returners leave the city of Westcrown for the rolling hills north of the city, meeting up with Dog’s Tongue the redcap a couple of miles outside of town. Dog’s Tongue leads them north for less than an hour, to the banks of the River Adivian. The redcap crosses using a magic potion kept for that purpose, waiting while the Returners find a ferryman to bring them across. As the party treks through the hills north of the Hagwood, Dog’s Tongue talks about the Mother of Flies’ connection to the Drovenges, and her reason for seeking an audience with the group. The redcap explains that over 20 years ago, the Drovenge family patriarch, Vassindio Drovenge, declared a vendetta against the hags of the Maggot Tree (there were once three). Vassindio Drovenge mustered an army of thieves to slay the coven. This force marched into the Hagwood and caught two of the hags – the Sister and the Daughter – by surprise and slew them both. The Mother of Flies was away at the time and returned home to find her kin slain and home destroyed. She swore vengeance upon the Drovenges. Now, with all the turmoil within the Council of Thieves, she has seen her opportunity and wishes to ally with the Returners to assist them in their struggle against the Drovenges.

As the group gets closer to the forest, Boecca and Dog’s Tongue notice the signs of the passage of a large number of people here and there, and periodically signs of larger humanoids, possibly ogre and hill giant. As the dark green scar of the Hagwood becomes visible, plumes of smoke rising from the interior indicate the presence of fires. Dog’s Tongue confirms that the fires look close to the location of the Maggot Tree, the Mother’s abode. The redcap believes that the number of fires mean a large force is attacking the Maggot Tree, and suggests a couple of opportunities for help – a group of redcaps (Dog’s Tongue former family) led by a bloodthirsty satyr called Madjaw, and a gigantic bombardier beetle called Fmugwha the Deathgorger. The Returners decide that such “allies” may be more hindrance than help, however, and strike immediately into the forest.

The Returners enter the Hagwood behind their guide, Dog’s Tongue. The old forest looms sinister; as the Returners delve deeper into the wood, the light of day grows obscured and filtered through layers of moist green canopy. The air in the Hagwood is heavy and cloying; the undergrowth fecund and full of dangerous rotten terrain. Not long after the group enters the wood, several Returners hear the sound of guttural voices and branches cracking underfoot. Taking cover in the undergrowth and with magic, the party waits as a patrol of Council thieves with two ogres and four hounds comes into view. The hounds catch the Returners’ scent, but before the patrol can react the Returners spring into action, taking the lumbering ogres and Council thieves by surprise. With the patrol dealt with, the party wastes no time making its way to the centre of the forest and the Mother of Flies’ massive Maggot Tree.

They arrive at the Maggot Tree – a gargantuan thing made up of several trees that grow together before reaching to an incredible 300 feet in height – to find it under siege by a significant force of Council thieves, ogres, hill giants, and other stranger creatures, small pale-skinned humanoids dressed in layers of old rags and tatters. Alfred the wizard recognizes them as dark creepers, normally found only underground, although rumoured to live openly in the shadow kingdom of Nidal to the north. Alfred flies invisibly above the massive clearing under the Maggot Tree’s boughs and assesses the situation. A number of fires burn around the tree, surrounded by barricades and siege walls, with at least four encampments of Council thieves, ogres and hill giants keeping the fires burning. A separate encampment exists at the northwestern end of the clearing; there Alfred spots someone who appears to be issuing the majority of the orders – a huge bear of a man wearing blackened scale mail and carrying two battleaxes that look to have seen their fair share of battle. Alfred relays the information to the Returners, and the battle preparations begin. Alizander recalls the wand of quench the group retrieved from the Nessian Spiral, and decides to lead the assault by dousing the bonfires that choke the Maggot Tree. The Battle for the Maggot Tree begins….

Treasure

· From the Council thieves (this session and last)

o Potions of cure moderate wounds (10) (worth 1500 gp total)

o Leather armour +1 (10) (worth 2900 gp total, due to market saturation)

o Masterwork rapiers (12) (worth 960 total, due to market saturation)

o Masterwork hand crossbows (12) (worth 1200 gp total, due to market saturation)

o Coins and jewelry (worth 1600 gp)

· From Maglin, Council Hushman (session 35)

o Leather armour +2 (worth 2080 gp)

o Buckler +1 (worth 582.5 gp)

o Masterwork rapier (worth 80 gp)

o Masterwork light crossbow (worth 167.5 gp)

o 10 poisoned bolts (blue whinnis) (black market only, worth 600 gp total)

o Ring of protection +1 (worth 1000 gp)

o Thieves’ tools (black market only, worth 15 gp)

o Set of quieting needles (black market only, worth 12.5 gp)

o Diamonds (6) (worth 1200 gp total)

· From Kruthe the Hammer (session 35)

o Potion of cure serious wounds (worth 375 gp)

o Spiked banded mail +2 (worth 2225 gp)

o +1 Warhammer (worth 1156 gp)

o Shrunken head pouch (value unknown)

o Cracked ruby (800 gp)

o Coins (worth 15.5 gp)

· From the ogres

o Coins (50 gp)

Experience Awards

· Council Thieves (6) – 4800 xp

· Warhounds (4) – 800 xp

· Ogres (2) – 1600 xp

· Total – 7,200 xp

· Per PC (6) – 1,200 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 81,435 xp

· Alfred – 78,880 xp

· Boecca – 78,860 xp

· Tavo – 74,790 xp

· Alizander – 73,450 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 20

Council of Thieves, Part 5: Mother of Flies - Session 35: Dusk Market Ambush

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Alizander Carmelizzia - Human (Varisian) sorcerer

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Lam – Human barbarian (not counted for xp purposes)

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Sunday, 19 Calistril, to Moonday, 18 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

The Returners get back to some semblance of normal life for a time following the defeat of Liebdaga the Twin. Carlos and Alfred get busy working on various crafting and magical research projects. Carlos in particular begins the laborious task of crafting a clay golem, using his recently acquired clay golem manual to good effect.

Slavé continues his work with the Order of the Scourge Hellknights, and suggests to Pontia the possibility of an alliance with the Returners, whose motives thus far have coincided rather nicely with the goals of the Scourge. Pontia agrees, and the two groups set up a meeting, where they discuss mutual interests in Westcrown. Pontia presses her need to ally with a powerful group that can increase the profile of the Order of the Scourge with the Wiscrani, and impress upon the populace the difference between their order and that of the Rack. The Returners, meanwhile, agree with the notion of having an ally in the Hellknights, a powerful organization throughout Cheliax, and see the benefit of the seemingly more moderate Order of the Scourge over the Order of the Rack.

Alizander slowly comes to terms with the horrors he experienced while in his coma, during which time he felt as if he was imprisoned in Hell for well over a year, and forced to commit all manner of terrible things against the tortured souls of fellow Varisians. He finds some solace in caring for his young daughter.

Tavo celebrates his annual church’s holiday, the Day of Bones, on the 5^th of Pharast.

Boecca undertakes a quest to atone for his sins with Joraviah in the Nessian Spiral. With the aid of the vulpinal Jezeletrix, he seeks out a priest of Erastil in the hills north of the Hagwood, a wizened old hermit called Odren Hurst. Hurst welcomes the half-orc and his unlikely companion (disguised as a human woman) into his humble home, and agrees to assist Boecca in his atonement. Hurst anoints the half-orc with various pungent herbs and chants a long, droning atonement prayer. When the ritual has been completed, Hurst explains to Boecca and Jezeletrix that something has disrupted the balance within the Hagwood – that a large force of hill giants, ogres, and men from the city has intruded upon the domain of the Mother of Flies, the ancient hag and last remaining of three sisters, turning the tide within the old woods towards chaos and destruction. As part of his atonement, Hurst asks Boecca to assist in removing the incursion in the Hagwood and restoring the Mother of Flies as its rightful master.

A new arrival to Westcrown, a man from Egorian who calls himself Lam, asks Nagiphax the cyclops-kin about the Returners at the Beer Golem tavern. Nagiphax introduces Lam to Alizander, and the Varisian sorcerer invites the burly Lam to meet the other Returners.

Toilday, 19 Pharast, 4709 A.R.

The party receives a note from Arvanxi’s former majordomo, Crosael Rasdovain, asking them to meet her at the Dusk Market in the Parego Dospera in the late afternoon. The group meets with Crosael, who explains that she believes an old contact, a pesh merchant named Goren One-Ear, has critical information about the Drovenge siblings’ plan for Westcrown. She leads the group towards Goren’s shop in an alley behind the Dusk Market. The Returners are ambushed there by a group of Council thieves led by an assassin and ogrekin barbarian. Luckily, the Returners manage to thwart the attack and defeat the ambushers. They are too late for the pesh merchant Goren One-Ear, however. The Returners find him pinned to the back wall of his shop, his lower jaw removed and on morbid display on the sales-counter.

Treasure

· Reward from the Mhartis Family

o +2 Mithral trident

Experience Awards

· Thieves – 4800 xp

· Kruthe the Hammer (ogrekin) – 3200 xp

· Maglin, Council hushman – 6400 xp

· Total – 14,400 xp

· Per PC (5) – 2,880 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 80,235 xp

· Alfred – 77,680 xp

· Boecca – 77,460 xp

· Tavo – 73,590 xp

· Alizander – 72,250 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 20

The Infernal Syndrome - Session 34: Cleanup

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Fireday, 17 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

With Liebdaga defeated and the immediate threat of devilish incursion into Westcrown mitigated, the Returners make their way back through the Nessian Spiral. The jets of steam, blasts of fire and incessant howling and hissing prevalent while the infernal duke Liebdaga the Twin – the Spiral’s engine – was alive have ceased, and the place radiates an uncomfortable, cloying silence. Zovarue the medusa rages at the party when they return to her library, as she finds herself still bound to the room, unable to leave as she had thought. She blames the Returners for keeping her imprisoned and attacks, lifting her veil and turning several of the party members to stone before they are able to act against her. With the help of the nearby kolyarut inevitable, Signatory Vaccha (and a promise to release the kolyarut inevitable from the binding effect keeping it in the Spiral), the still-mobile Returners manage to defeat the furious medusa.

Sunday, 19 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

The group takes time to recoup following the battle with Zovarue. Tavo attempts without success to free Signatory Vaccha from the Thrune binding spell, and vows to return with renewed vigour at a later date. Finally, the group exits the Nessian Spiral into the early morning hours of 19 Calistril. The city is dead quiet; the silence especially noticeable in the absence of the massive pillars of hellfire that raged only days before. A cool late-winter mist lingers in the air, seeping into the crevices and cracks in the rubble as if anticipating the coming daylight, clinging to the last vestiges of night.

As the group crosses the ruined courtyard of Aberian’s mansion, a charging shape springs out of the darkness with the speed of a wild animal. It smashes Carlos with a powerful swing of its arm before loping back into the dim mist, physically hurting the half-orc wizard and leeching his life-force. Several party members catch a glimpse of dimly-glowing orange eyes, an almost-naked, lean but tautly-muscled torso, and a feral, blood-soaked and fang-filled mouth. The Returners gather their wits quickly and mobilize against the creature and bring it down, overwhelming the slavering vampire creature with their greater numbers. Tavo makes the killing strike with the Morrowfall, burning the vampire with deadly sunlight and sending it into oblivion.

With the vampire dead, presumably the same one that had dominated the dottari lieutenant the group met at the barricade days ago, the party wastes little time examining the Mhartis gatehouse at the far end of the ruined courtyard. There they discover a small group of nearly-starved Mhartis guards, confused and disoriented as they come out of a reverie induced by the vampire’s mind-control. The guards tell them the story about how the vampire, which called itself Jerusen, terrorized the Mhartis house and killed or drove out most of the guards and servants. They tell the Returners that Jerusen referred to someone called the “Master of Shadows”, perhaps the elusive vampire Ilnerik Sivanshin, former chronicler to the Pathfinder Donatalus Bisby.

The Returners help the Mhartis guards out of the area and get them some help before finally going back to the Adventurers’ Quarter and their respective homes for some much-needed rest. Over the next several days, news of the Returners’ exploits in the Nessian Spiral and their efforts in defeating the hellish incursion into the city spread, and the group’s fame grows with it. Sascar Tilernos hosts the Returners in the Tilernos estate in the noble district, granting them a reward for her rescue and letters of writ permitting them entry into the Parego Regicona.

Still, not all is well in the city of Westcrown. Dottari and Hellknights of the Order of the Rack continue to clash and argue over jurisdiction. Shadows still stalk the night streets, joined now by the occasional errant devil that entered the city during the initial explosion at Aberian’s Folly.

Slavé is distressed to learn upon returning to the Order of the Scourge headquarters in the northern ruins – the Rego Cader – that Aberian Arvanxi escaped custody during a skirmish with a group of rogues too well-armed to be mere thugs. Pontia Runario, the local Scourge paralictor, tells Slavé of a sudden increase in resistance in the northern ruins that arose during the chaos after the explosion at the mayor’s manor. She describes guerilla soldiers armed with well-made weapons – rapiers and concealable hand crossbows – too expensive to belong to the average street-tough.

The Returners are approached by citizens on the street daily – requesting assistance with annoying neighbours, money to help rescue a failing business, healing for a dying mother, help escaping the city of Westcrown. Some Wiscrani exhibit resentment towards the Returners, blaming them for the recent turmoil, wishing for a return to days when the ever-present dottari, Hellknights, and Asmodean priests kept order and routine, even if it was with an iron fist.

Treasure

· From Zovarue

o Wand of make whole (CL 10^th, 16 charges) (worth 2400 gp)

o +1 Mithral dagger (worth 1250 gp)

o Headband of alluring charisma +2 (worth 2000 gp)

o Amulet of natural armour +1 (worth 1000 gp)

· From Jerusen

o Masterwork hand crossbow (worth 200 gp)

o 10 +1 crossbow bolts (poisoned with medium spider venom) (worth 950 gp total)

o Amulet of natural armour +1 (worth 1000 gp)

o Cloak of resistance +1 (worth 500 gp)

o Ring of protection +1 (worth 1000 gp)

· From House Tilernos

o 5000 gp for the return of their daughter, Sascar Tilernos (see session 31)

o Letters of writ permitting entry into the Parego Regicona

Experience Awards

· Jerusen, feral vampire – 6400 xp

· Story Award (defeating Ilnerik Sivanshin’s thrall and putting a stop to his influence in the Aberian Folly ruins) – 4000 xp

· Story Award (saving the Mhartis guards and solving the mystery of the invasion into the Mhartis house) – 6000 xp

· Total – 16,400 xp

· Per PC (5) – 3,280 xp

· Fame Points (for defeating Liebdaga the Twin and ending the threat to the city) - 2

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 73,355 xp each

· Alfred – 74,800 xp

· Boecca – 74,580 xp

· Tavo – 73,590 xp

· Alizander – 56,935 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 20

The Infernal Syndrome - Session 33: Liebdaga the Twin

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Oathday, 16 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

After regrouping in the Hall of Hellscapes, the Returners move on with a still-comatose Alizander in tow. Soon after they leave the Hall the group is set upon by an unknown assailant – a silent, brawny half-orc wearing little more than a pair of short, loose-fitting breeches. The half-orc attacks without explanation, wielding no weapons but his hands and feet. The half-orc makes a brave show against the Returners, but woefully underestimated the might of the champions of Westcrown, and is summarily dispatched by the group. Boecca calls upon the divine help of Erastil to determine some details of the dead assailant, learning that his name was Zol, and that he worked as a professional assassin. The Returners deduce that he was likely sent by the Council of Thieves, likely the usurper group led by Eccardian and Chammady Drovenge, considering that several of the thieves guarding the ruins upstairs had escaped.

The group returns to the Gallery of Burning Lovers, where the fiery minotaur statue still guards the way beyond. Boecca steps into the room bearing the rune-etched iron ring, the rest of the Returners gathered near him. With the ring in their possession, the Returners are permitted through the door without resistance from the burning guardian. Through the door they find another stairway leading downward, spiraling out of sight. Following it, they pass through another iron doorway into a round chamber featuring a lone guardian standing beside a small ebony table, upon which rests a cracked crystal ball. The figure, a humanoid being of polished metal and complex clockwork gears, rises to its full seven-foot height, layers of dust falling from its green cloak as it stands at attention.

The clockwork being bows, introduces itself as Signatory Vaccha, and requests that the “carrier of the contract” present himself for inspection. Jancen does so, and Signatory Vaccha examines the contract retrieved from the Lord-Mayor. Satisfied, it nods and steps aside, permitting passage through the chamber. The party speaks with the being for a time, learning that in the chamber beyond the party will encounter a final guardian referred to as “the Librarian”, and that they might be able to negotiate safe passage without fighting the Librarian if they can both convince the Librarian that they are agents of the current mayor of Westcrown and display proof that they should be in the Nessian Spiral with knowledge of the dungeon and its workings.

Moving on, the Returners next enter the library, a pleasantly warm chamber lined with bookshelves heavy with tomes, featuring tables laden with alchemical gear, crafting tools, and other laboratory devices. Standing at one of the tables is a feminine figure – presumably the Librarian – wearing salmon-coloured breeches and an intricately embroidered bodice. A mass of snakes writhes atop her head, and as she turns to face the party they note a black veil obscuring her face. The Returners speak with the Librarian for some time – she keeps her face veiled throughout – seeming to convince her that they are in the Nessian Spiral on the Lord-Mayor’s orders (by showing her the contract). Over time they discover that the Librarian, who calls herself Zovarue, has been bound to this room for as long as the Nessian Spiral has existed, acting as advisor and crafter of magical items to the first two mayors in residence. Zovarue seems eager to help the party on their quest against Liebdaga the Twin, believing that her binding will be destroyed with the complete shutdown of the Spiral. She explains that following the shutdown of the five cooling chambers above, there are two more steps necessary to stop the engine for good: the destruction of the physical structure of the infernal cage housing the engine, and finally the destruction or dismissal of the engine itself – the pit fiend Liebdaga the Twin.

Several party members stay and speak with Zovarue for a time. Jancen and Alfred discover (without her knowledge) that the medusa has her own secret designs on the rule of Westcrown, and catch a brief glimpse of her own personal list of laws and statutes. Finally, the party decides to head back to Signatory Vaccha’s chamber and rest for their final showdown with Liebdaga the Twin.

Fireday, 17 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

The party moves on, bolstered by their diplomatic encounters with the denizens of the Nessian Spiral. They encounter a series of locks blocking the entrance to the Infernal Engine chamber, and manage to bypass these by interpreting the password-inscriptions on each door. Finally, the party enters the Infernal Engine chamber.

A fifty-foot-high domed ceiling rises above the massive room, the air of which is blisteringly hot. An immense, fiery pentagram, inlaid in the floor with strange glowing gems and metals, reaches out to touch the walls. Suspended in the centre of the room by seven immense chains is a ten-foot-diameter adamantine cage. Crimson crystal ribs extend up from the walls to the ceiling above where they connect to pillars of what looks like crystallized blood that descend down to surround the centre of the room and the dangling cage therein. A discordant humming fills the air of the room, causing everything to vibrate and shake. Every few seconds, a blast of heat washes over the room as a wreath of fire washes over the cage and then slithers like fiery lightning up along the chains to be absorbed by the blood-red crystal ribs.

Within the adamantine cage is a large flickering form, a deep red pit fiend forced into a fetal position, whose body seems only partially physical – alternating between flesh and fire and smoke with rapid fluctuations. As the party enters the room, the cage shakes and rattles in place. An instant later, the cage lurches into life, sprouting three smaller chains with which it can smash and grab foes. The larger chains lashing it to the walls of the chamber extend and retract, allowing the cage to move as if of its own free will around the room. The battle against the cage and Liebdaga himself is long and treacherous. Boecca is nearly crushed by the massive chains whipping back and forth from the cage. Luckily, with the Talisman of the Twin in their possession, the Returners manage to cause Liebdaga such distress that when the cage is finally destroyed and the devil freed, it takes of the pit fiend’s willpower to act against the party. Finally, inevitably, the one-time duke of Avernus is put to the sword once and for all, and the Infernal Engine shutdown.

Treasure

· From Zol

o Potion of barkskin +4 (2) (worth 300 gp total)

o Belt of physical might +2 (Str/Con) (worth 5000 gp)

o Bracers of armour +1 (worth 500 gp)

o Ring of protection +2 (worth 4000 gp)

Experience Awards

· Zol, Council of Thieves’ assassin – 9600 xp

· Story Award (bypass the burning guardian) – 4800 xp

· Story Award (negotiate passage from Signatory Vaccha) – 19,200 xp

· Story Award (negotiate passage from Zovarue, medusa librarian) – 9600 xp

· Liebdaga’s Cage (Infernal Engine shutdown stage two) – 4800 xp

· Liebdaga the Twin (Infernal Engine shutdown stage three) – 19,200 xp

· Total – 67,200 xp

· Per PC (5) – 13,440 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 74,055 xp each

· Alfred – 71,520 xp

· Boecca – 71,300 xp

· Tavo – 70,310 xp

· Alizander – 56,935 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 18

The Infernal Syndrome - Session 32: From Hell

Dramatis Personae

Alfaren “Alfred” Eredel – Elf transmuter

Boecca – Half-orc inquisitor of Erastil

Carlos Santiago - Half-orc (Alkenstarian) evoker

Slavé/Jancen – Tiefling (in guise as a human) rogue/assassin

Tavo Dechirent - Human cleric of Pharasma

Oathday, 16 Calistril, 4709 A.R.

Jancen accepts the gargoyles’ offer and samples the tender, raw hearts. Alas, his unpracticed palate is unable to discern an appreciable difference in the flavour of virgin’s vs. trollop’s heart. Nonetheless, the seemingly verbose gargoyles are impressed by his effort. Jancen trades words with the creatures for a time, then offers the group a drink of his waterskin, which he claims holds the finest of hell’s nectars. The lead gargoyle takes a cup of the dark liquid with gusto, downs it in one mighty quaff. The Stygian water takes effect immediately, and the gargoyle doubles over in pain as the vile liquid sends its tendrils into the deepest recesses of the gargoyle’s mind, erasing memory and knowledge. The party springs to the attack at this, eventually bringing the group of gargoyles to defeat.

Once the gargoyles have been dealt with, a cursory investigation reveals the cityscape of Dis to be an elaborate illusion – a mirage created to comfort the pit fiend imprisoned in the Nessian Spiral, according to Vheed’s scrawls earlier in the complex.

The Returners venture deeper into the Spiral, winding ever downward in a clockwise corkscrew pattern. They pass through a long hall of mirrors reflecting terrible hellscapes; avoiding looking directly at any of the mirrors as they do so. Alizander, unfortunately, becomes mesmerized by a vision he witnesses in one of the mirrors. Before the group can tear him away, the Varisian sorcerer’s eyes grow wide in terror and he collapses into a heap, still breathing, but comatose. Unable to rouse the sorcerer, the group sits him in a corner of the room and promises to return for him.

Continuing on, each successive room in the Nessian Spiral represents some sort of hellish environment: a fire-blasted desert marked by long lines of fresh souls newly arrived in Hell; a vast underground mine patrolled by blue-tinged drake-like behirs and burning devils wielding glittering barbed whips; and finally a wide garden of metallic trees bearing brass-coloured fruit, where gaps in the densely packed trees reveal glimpses of bestial couplings between devils and the damned.

The Returners face challenges in each of these rooms: massive black-feathered bird-head creatures in the Avernus desert; a slave-master behir that compels Tavo, Jancen, Carlos, and Alfred to take up heavy picks and get to work; and finally a towering stone statue of a minotaur wreathed in flames. The minotaur blocks the only exit from the grove of metallic trees. Taking a defensive posture, the minotaur announces in a rumbling voice that none may pass without the iron ring. Guessing that the hall of mirrors they bypassed earlier is the only area they haven’t searched closely, the Returners head back in an effort to find the iron ring demanded by the burning guardian.

Boecca faces each mirror in turn, viewing images of his own torture in different hellish landscapes – reflections of the various layers of Hell - at the hands of a towering pit fiend with a horribly scarred belly. Boecca resists the feelings of despair, hopelessness, nausea, lethargy, bloodlust, greed, homesickness, oppression, insignificance, and greed that threaten to overcome him as he gazes into each frightening visage to retrieve an object revealed behind each of the mirrors. In one, he finds an iron ring, etched with infernal runes. In another, he finds a heavy adamantine talisman – the Talisman of the Twin mentioned by Crosael.

Treasure

· From Nessian Spiral – The Hall of Toil

o +2 Heavy picks (5) (worth 20,770 gp)

· From Nessian Spiral – The Route to Hell

o Talisman of the Twin (value unknown)

o Rune-etched iron ring (non-magical, value unknown)

o Rod of Splendour (worth 12,500 gp)

o Bag of Holding type IV (worth 5000 gp)

o Staff of Swarming Insects (worth 11,400 gp)

o +2 Returning mithral trident (worth 10,000 gp)

o Minor ring of cold resistance (worth 6000 gp)

o Rope of entanglement (worth 10,500 gp)

o 30,000 sp (worth 3,000 gp)

o 19,400 gp

o 1360 pp (worth 13,600 gp)

Experience Awards

· Gargoyles (6) – 7200 xp

· Achaierais (4) – 6400 xp

· Behir – 4800 xp

· Total – 18,400 xp

· Per PC (5) – 3680 xp

Current XP Total per PC

· Carlos, Slavé – 60,615 xp each

· Alfred – 58,080 xp

· Boecca – 57,860 xp

· Alizander – 56,935 xp

· Tavo – 56,870 xp

· Total Current Fame Points – 18