Session XX - 01.02.2021

General Summary

• The party departed Fort Knucklebone with their newly acquired soul engine determined to reach the Tower of Urm, abode of the famous wizard Mordenkainen. After a half a day's ride in the wastelands of avernus, the tower is seen emerging from a lake of boiling blood.

• Several Yugoloths are clamoring for the wizard's attention close to a magic teleportation circle. They want the lucrative jobs that Mordenkainen often has to offer when he comes to avernus for a time. Athanatos tries to get his attention with a speech, while Barakas probes the magic circle for any possible weaknesses.

• Barakas' probing gets Mordenkainen's attention and after brief consideration, the party is told the keyword necessary to activate the portal and get into the tower.

• The encounter with the mage is brief. He takes little interest in the mission of the party and actually claims that he likes Zariel as ruler of avernus, she keeps the focus on the Blood War. He instructs the party on what he needs done.

• In ages past, Mordenkainen trapped an old Pit Fiend called Jag'Thul in a place that came to be known as the Pits of Filth. He blasted open one of the argins of the Styx and drowned the pit fiend in it. This caused the whole area to become a crater filled with sludge. The styx kept flowing into the crater and kept Jag'Thul trapped.

• Recently, some devils have started damming the river styx with the aim to free Jag'Thul. This cannot be allowed to pass and Mordenkainen gives the party explosive devices to break the dam open and allow the styx to flow again. He also mentions that devils in the area are known for using Soul Conductors as a way to control large number of harmless souls and making them do their bidding, in this case the construction of the dam.

• The heroes make their way to the pits to and find the half-completed dam crawling with winged devils, while hundreds of weeping souls toil trying to build it. All the souls seem connected to a central building, suspended over the crater by huge chains.

• The party decides to split and attack the problem simultaneously, Athanatos and Darrak stealthily approach the dam on opposites sides to try and plant the charges, chaperoned by Jo and Darius on the soul engine. Meanwhile, Barakas decides to exploit the distraction and fly up into the central building to recover the soul conductor.

• The plan seems to be working, when Athanatos is spotted and uses darkness to keep his enemies at bay. Barakas in the meantime is successful in recovering the soul conductor and manages to make its way back to the soul engine. After waiting for Athanatos, the party speeds away from the Pits of Filth with a host of winged devils on their tail…

Report Date

08 Feb 2021