Session 16: Escaping Hell & Willoughby Cemetary
General Summary
On this Episode of DREAM THIEVES...
They found a tombstone standing in the middle of the walking path and wondered if they could find it's original resting place.
Gervil and Torrentous entered the boy's mausoleum. They looked around and, astonished, discovered that this was the same tomb that Gervil had pulled himself out of in his death dream when in the clutches of the Fay forest maiden inhabiting the house in Union. There stood a bust of a young man, an exact likeness of Gervil, but instead the inscription read, "Here lies Virgil Voren, no known family, no known friends."
The two looked around the rest of the mausoleum, it was adorned with affects of the young man sitting on five columns, but some of them were missing, stolen or lost throughout the graveyard. There also show a gratuitous amount of graffiti on the walls, visible only to Gervil through detecting the magical traces, and the graffiti read unwelcome messages about how Virgil had some relationship with the Wardens, the local wizard guild, but had been thrown out and was unwelcome.
Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut, and the door was barred behind them. They were trapped inside! With Torrentous pulling out a torch, they searched for another way out.
The coffin in the mausoleum was ornate and expensive. Gervil looked inside and discovered no body! There was only one boney hand, the rest of the body missing. The two heroes pulled the coffin off its base and discovered a secret passageway underneath, leading down into a dark cavernous room. The two traveled down and found an even more bewildering sight.
Gervil noticed a powerful staff sitting in the marbled hand of the statue. With some effort, he pulled out the staff to take with him.
Gervil felt a strong instinct within himself. He willingly transformed into Virgil, moving closer the 'reunion' Virgil mentioned. In this form, the ooze sensed that a master had returned, and eagerly reunited with the mass. Gervil's Virgil form was strengthened granting him 'Ooze form'. This allowed him to turn into a moving puddle of ooze, allowing him to navigate through tight spaces.
Our heroes returned to the surface. Gervil's newfound power allowed him to easily slip out of the barred door and open it for Torrentous. Jessa, who had been outside the whole time, witness Virgil's grotesque form and ran away in fear.
Our heroes finally arrived to the newly buried graves. The coffins were still near the surface with only a small helping of dirt on the top, making them easily accessible. Gervil, returning to his human form, opened the caskets one by one and discovered that...
The newly dead, in these coffins, were the fallen Dream Thieves that Gildur had asked our heroes to find!
Each of the fallen Dream Thieves had a small number of effects on them, including a portal device used to call on the door into the famed home of the Dream Thieves, Riverwind. They had accomplished their mission.
Close by, the two heroes met a young wood elf that had seen the entire looting that just transpired. He threatened to turn them in if they didn't offer him a bribe. They stood poised, ready to attack...
The heroes came across a jailor who was intent on stopping their furhter progress through the citadel. In an effort to turn this encounter to their advantage, they asked how they could serve his beloved patroness Stryxia. The jailor mentioned an unwelcome guest in the Hellfire Citadel that had been grandfathered into staying due to his status. If he could be persuaded to leave the 8th layer, their service would be well rewarded.
The heroes ventured precariously out to a tent on an island surrounded by the boiling blood ocean of the 8th layer. They were confronted by an impish vizier to the "old one". Stirring the pot, Azriel persuaded the vizier that they'd been ordered to place more bacon and an abyssal seed, found earlier in the citadel, in the dragon's hoard. The Dragon was an affront to the guest, his identity still unknown, but the vizier agreed.
The guest, stepping out of the tent, was revealed to be a fierce elder beast, who began fighting with the dragon on top of his hoard of gold.
In the flurry of excitement, the heroes continued moving through the prison as the jailors attempted to quell the combat happening outside between the savage beasts. They ran across a large towering automaton, dressed like a gunslinger, who asked them to release him with a gem they had found. He freely offered that he was an assassin coming to "finish the job" on a target that had been stolen away from the world above but still showed signs of life in the citadel. Zanuriel, seeing an opportunity, commanded the figure out of the cell and to 'FIGHT' the beasts outside, sending him off the trail of his true prey.
The heroes decided it was time to step into the grand chamber and speak to the true ruler of the Hellfire Citadel. Inside the ornate devil lair, they kneeled in front of Stryxion, King and Ruler of the 8th layer of hell, and Stryxia's father.
The king told the heroes that he had been watching their actions through the eyes of his daughter and his agents in the greater world. Their hearts had done many devilish deeds and they he found them suitable to take on a new quest in exchange for breaking the branded bond that Stryxia had placed on Azriel.
Stryxion's son was missing and out of reach of his contact. Azriel was to find him in 10 sessions or less, otherwise the agreement would sour and Azriel would become a more permanent member of the devil's family of servants. Azriel agreed, and they were allowed passage out of the citadel.
Stryxia burst in and protested the new agreement. Stryxion only laughed, and as a boon to Azriel for the meddling Strxia had done throughout his journey, gave him the ability to call on her power once, whatever power that may be. He also gave him a sealed letter with 'a gift' but to read it once he had returned to the surface.
Azriel's brand was transformed into one that read 'messenger'. Before they left, Azriel asked that he have other prisoners return to the surface with him. Stryxion was not easily persuaded to let go of his captives, but gave Azriel leave to take two of them, and one of those slots had to be filled by Zanuriel. Azriel chose to release Kyrie the Valkyrie in a strategic choice.
The two heroes, with Stryxia in tears at their feet, her plaything no longer in her grasp, walked through the portal back to the real world.
The Unknown Boy
Our heroes Gervil and Torentous arrived at Willoughby cemetary, an older installation, filled to capacity many years ago. They met a young grave digger who informed them that they had just missed the services for five individuals, but noone had come to pay their respects. The heroes wondered who they were and the gravedigger pointed to their burial locations. He also warned them that this graveyard was home to many spirits, one of which was "the boy," an unknown young man who'd been buried in a mausoleum that had been constructed overnight without the town's knowing or permission, yet the burial plot had been purchased by an unknown figure many years before. Perhaps this was the owner finally calling his claim on the land.They found a tombstone standing in the middle of the walking path and wondered if they could find it's original resting place.
Gervil and Torrentous entered the boy's mausoleum. They looked around and, astonished, discovered that this was the same tomb that Gervil had pulled himself out of in his death dream when in the clutches of the Fay forest maiden inhabiting the house in Union. There stood a bust of a young man, an exact likeness of Gervil, but instead the inscription read, "Here lies Virgil Voren, no known family, no known friends."
The two looked around the rest of the mausoleum, it was adorned with affects of the young man sitting on five columns, but some of them were missing, stolen or lost throughout the graveyard. There also show a gratuitous amount of graffiti on the walls, visible only to Gervil through detecting the magical traces, and the graffiti read unwelcome messages about how Virgil had some relationship with the Wardens, the local wizard guild, but had been thrown out and was unwelcome.
Suddenly, the door behind them slammed shut, and the door was barred behind them. They were trapped inside! With Torrentous pulling out a torch, they searched for another way out.
The coffin in the mausoleum was ornate and expensive. Gervil looked inside and discovered no body! There was only one boney hand, the rest of the body missing. The two heroes pulled the coffin off its base and discovered a secret passageway underneath, leading down into a dark cavernous room. The two traveled down and found an even more bewildering sight.
Death Under the Ground
In the cavern lie a large obsidian agate statue of an old man. Surrounding the statues was a moat of thick black ooze, and when nearing the moat the ooze came to life! In order to reach the statue, Gervil was thrown by Torrentous over the ooze safely. Gervil looked at the statue more closely. The inscription on the statue read, "Virgil Voren, Necromancer, of the Wizards Four."Gervil noticed a powerful staff sitting in the marbled hand of the statue. With some effort, he pulled out the staff to take with him.
Gervil felt a strong instinct within himself. He willingly transformed into Virgil, moving closer the 'reunion' Virgil mentioned. In this form, the ooze sensed that a master had returned, and eagerly reunited with the mass. Gervil's Virgil form was strengthened granting him 'Ooze form'. This allowed him to turn into a moving puddle of ooze, allowing him to navigate through tight spaces.
Our heroes returned to the surface. Gervil's newfound power allowed him to easily slip out of the barred door and open it for Torrentous. Jessa, who had been outside the whole time, witness Virgil's grotesque form and ran away in fear.
The Fallen Dream Thieves
Torrentous, followed by Virgil hiding in his ooze form, found two scared citizen guards 'protecting' the graves from grave robbers.Our heroes finally arrived to the newly buried graves. The coffins were still near the surface with only a small helping of dirt on the top, making them easily accessible. Gervil, returning to his human form, opened the caskets one by one and discovered that...
The newly dead, in these coffins, were the fallen Dream Thieves that Gildur had asked our heroes to find!
Each of the fallen Dream Thieves had a small number of effects on them, including a portal device used to call on the door into the famed home of the Dream Thieves, Riverwind. They had accomplished their mission.
Close by, the two heroes met a young wood elf that had seen the entire looting that just transpired. He threatened to turn them in if they didn't offer him a bribe. They stood poised, ready to attack...
Causing Chaos in the Hellfire Citadel
Zanuriel and Azriel, still searching for a way out of the prison, came upon two dwarves and a young girl who was crying. The men explained that they had been recently captured and the girls interplanar travel scroll was taken from her, ensuring they were trapped with no way out. The heroes offered to find the scroll for them along with the dwarves weapons.The heroes came across a jailor who was intent on stopping their furhter progress through the citadel. In an effort to turn this encounter to their advantage, they asked how they could serve his beloved patroness Stryxia. The jailor mentioned an unwelcome guest in the Hellfire Citadel that had been grandfathered into staying due to his status. If he could be persuaded to leave the 8th layer, their service would be well rewarded.
The heroes ventured precariously out to a tent on an island surrounded by the boiling blood ocean of the 8th layer. They were confronted by an impish vizier to the "old one". Stirring the pot, Azriel persuaded the vizier that they'd been ordered to place more bacon and an abyssal seed, found earlier in the citadel, in the dragon's hoard. The Dragon was an affront to the guest, his identity still unknown, but the vizier agreed.
The guest, stepping out of the tent, was revealed to be a fierce elder beast, who began fighting with the dragon on top of his hoard of gold.
In the flurry of excitement, the heroes continued moving through the prison as the jailors attempted to quell the combat happening outside between the savage beasts. They ran across a large towering automaton, dressed like a gunslinger, who asked them to release him with a gem they had found. He freely offered that he was an assassin coming to "finish the job" on a target that had been stolen away from the world above but still showed signs of life in the citadel. Zanuriel, seeing an opportunity, commanded the figure out of the cell and to 'FIGHT' the beasts outside, sending him off the trail of his true prey.
In the Court of the Devil King
Azriel discovered that the doorways to the final area of the citadel were now unguarded due to the havoc they had caused. They entered Stryxia's bedroom and discovered a hellish groomsman outfit, potentially being fitted for Azriel. They also found the locket that contained Detective Tristian Hannah and stashed it away. On the right hand side of the room was a gigantic gilded doorway.The heroes decided it was time to step into the grand chamber and speak to the true ruler of the Hellfire Citadel. Inside the ornate devil lair, they kneeled in front of Stryxion, King and Ruler of the 8th layer of hell, and Stryxia's father.
The king told the heroes that he had been watching their actions through the eyes of his daughter and his agents in the greater world. Their hearts had done many devilish deeds and they he found them suitable to take on a new quest in exchange for breaking the branded bond that Stryxia had placed on Azriel.
Stryxion's son was missing and out of reach of his contact. Azriel was to find him in 10 sessions or less, otherwise the agreement would sour and Azriel would become a more permanent member of the devil's family of servants. Azriel agreed, and they were allowed passage out of the citadel.
Stryxia burst in and protested the new agreement. Stryxion only laughed, and as a boon to Azriel for the meddling Strxia had done throughout his journey, gave him the ability to call on her power once, whatever power that may be. He also gave him a sealed letter with 'a gift' but to read it once he had returned to the surface.
Azriel's brand was transformed into one that read 'messenger'. Before they left, Azriel asked that he have other prisoners return to the surface with him. Stryxion was not easily persuaded to let go of his captives, but gave Azriel leave to take two of them, and one of those slots had to be filled by Zanuriel. Azriel chose to release Kyrie the Valkyrie in a strategic choice.
The two heroes, with Stryxia in tears at their feet, her plaything no longer in her grasp, walked through the portal back to the real world.
Azriel Carynthian
Zanuriel Leafbreeze
Torentous Tenaysius
Gervil Norev
Report Date
26 Feb 2024
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