Session XXII - 30.03.2021 - date unclear

General Summary

• After obtaining the Soul Conductor and resting at Mordenkainen's tower, the party discusses its next moves. During the Journey back from the Pits of Filth, Barakas had analyzed the soul conductorn and found some very familiar presences within, Mordenkainen confirmed his suspicions by showing that a large number of souls still resided within the conductor.
• Upon further exploration of the conductor with Mordenkainen's help, Barakas found that the souls trapped within were his friends, elders and relatives that were taken away from him so long ago. Mord mentioned how "no doubt Maggie will be happy to use all these souls to make her ritual better", but Barakas insisted on finding a way to free the souls. Impressed by a job well done and by the will of such little creature, Mordenkainen decided to help, for a price.
• Mordenkainen brought Barakas into a room with a magic circle inscribed within. He summoned a pit fiend to arbitrate, and offered Barakas a deal. The knowledge he sought, for a favour. He could come and ask for Barakas' for a favour, at any time. This would not involve any self harm, but if the service was not rendered, Barakas would be afflicted with the curse of Mordenkainen, forever. Barakas signed the deal.
• He gave the party a book, detailing a ritual that could be used to free the souls (making the conductor less effective at the same time…) and instructed Barakas on where to find a portal to travel to Stygia, the cold layer of hell where soul conductors are forged and where the ritual needs to take place.
• Armed with this knowledge, the party decided to travel north, to the Mirror of Mephistar, where they would hopefully find a way into Stygia.
• When faced with the challenge of crossing the river Styx, Darrak summoned giant birds to carry people and gear to safety, all the while lightening the load on the soul engine. Barakas himself used his knowledge of soul coins and the magic that powers the soul engine to drive up a jut of rock at incredible speed and jump over the river, all the while helped by an array of birds trying to lighten the massive infernal engine.
• In the aftermath of this maneuver, while recovering all the gear, the party were attacked from dragon-like creatures. After a furious chase the attackers were defeated and one of the taken captive. On the creature, they found an unsettling letter, showing a drawing of Jo's face, and the directive to take her captive and bring her to the winged justice.
• The half deformed dragon creature tried to destroy another important evidence, but was stopped just in time, only managing to partially damage a piece of encrypted text. He then revealed that Hecutis, at the Wandering Emporyum, was to be his contact and he would know how to interpret the text.
• With this information, the party resumed going north towards the Mirror of Mephistar. On the way, however, they found tracks and refuse that would lead them to believe the Wandering Emporyum was nearby, and after a few more miles saw the splendor of the emporyum rise on the horizon…

Report Date

30 Mar 2021