The Unicorn and the Golden Holifant

Begin writing your story hJournal entry 23.
The Unicorn and the Golden Holifant
 
I thought I left the darkness behind, lived a free man since the undead plague swamped Elturel. When the Companion appeard in the sky, the High Rider and his vampire spawn burned to dust, my mind was mine once again. But nobody knew the price paid in exchange for this new Sun, the great gift, never a gift at all. We where never free. We and the ones who came after us have just been sold to another master.
Once I was proud to be a Hellrirder, proud to be of Elturel. Of that faith rests but a sliver. We have been betrayed. First by the High rider, 50 years ago. Then by Nadja Bellani, thought our souls were a good price for a meager 50 years of peace. She doomed us all, and for what? A small respite? The world does not seem better off then it was. I have to admit. I am afraid.
 
But I will not sit here, sheepishly waiting until Zariel harvests my soul. I have not worked this hard to be enslaved once again. Silvara - who I am weary of because she entertains herself with demons and lesser devils - turns out to be a great source of knowledge.

the contract Nadja made with Zariel contains out of 2 parts, that, if brought together, can be destroyed

the contract can be destroyed by grace of the arch devil

if the devil breaks the agreement, the contract can be legally unbound

to destroy the contract, the pieces can be submerged in the river styx.

the contract can be destroyed by devine intervention.

A council has been brought together to look into these solutions and pursue the most viable option. The council consists of all kinds of babbling braggarts, lots of words-no-action types. Some humans, dwarfs, that otter guy Taxidorp or something and a gnome. All of use for something no doubt, but I just want to get to action. We won’t get anything done talking about it. This one bard Volendamkedam or something seems useful though, we’ll see. Some of them will join us when we venture off to Hell.
 
My fellow adventurers don’t seem half that bad though.
This Fenrir fellow might be possessed by a demonic shield (have to keep an eye on that), but I feel a kinship to him. He is young, but he has been through a lot and his story is too similar to mine. And possessed or not, we are already in the same pickle with the whole demon contract thing so i guess it doesn’t matter.
This Leo guy is a bit floaty for my taste. He’s a healer. Useful, in a fight, but he smokes flowers and talks to trees, i don’t get it.
Bertha does their own thing, which I respect. Seems smart, smarter then me. Even though I like doing stuff more then reading or talking about it, who knows what she comes up with.
Caja talks a lot, but she is a strong and capable fighter and she know’s how to drink.
The council meeting was still going on when a giant sword appeared from that damned puzzlebox. A big horned devil appeard together with even more demons and devils.
We were ready to fight them, but then we were ordered to instead find Silvara’s Compendium. This imp Papjip and whatever the other creature was - were of no help. But we managed to find the cursed book, and were transported to a very damp cellar with a very talkative dragon ghost.
I didnt listen to half of what they said, but it was something with them being bound to Candlekeep for 20 years by a powerful conjurer. After what seemed like listening to her whole life story, she then transported us to a swamp.
 
This swamp was meant to be the location where the lost portal to Avernus was located - the same portal that was used during the charge of the Hellriders into Avernus. We didn’t find this portal, but we did find a unicorn guarding a big tree.
After a while we found out we had to destroy the tree (not the unicorn) to get tot he portal. Caja rode the Unicorn to keep it buisy, while we started our attack. The tree was magical and did not want to be hit or burned. it did all kinds of evasive manouvers and illusory tricks to outsmart us and make our attacks miss, but we managed to overcome this great foe in the end.
 
Before we could set foot in the barely two feet wide portal, something else appeared. A small golden winged creature, with flappy ears and a big trunk. It squeezed it’s way out, and the portal closed. Now we have this creature with us - no clue what it is or what to do with it. Of one thing i’m sure, it’s not going to get our souls back, and the portal is gone. Also, we left the counsel to fend for themselves, who knows what became of them, and all we got to show for it is this lousy little elephant.
 
Other things;
Finished my Lyre
Have to buy more whisky.
I need a drink.