Session 127 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes discussed how to proceed and ultimately decided to let Thessalni do her work alone, speaking to contacts and trying to learn who they might deliver the letter to to ensure it is received by the Lady of Pain. The party was free to enjoy the city and explore at their leisure. They agreed that Thessalni would check in with them the next day at around lunch time. The party spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city. They visited Lady’s Ward and noted the many temples. To a degree, it reminded them of the city of Church on Embril. Though many of the temples were of gods unknown to them, they found temples to gods like Corellon Larethian, God of Elves, Bahamut, God of Good Dragons, and other outsider gods worshipped on Embril. However, they did not find any temples to any gods of the Embrillian Pantheon. While they were in Lady’s Ward, they visited the columns they had learned were potentially a portal to and from Bransea, Goldcoast. The columns were decorated with reliefs depicting spellcasters practicing the Mystic Arts. Titta Morco asked Selia Roselyn Maxwell to inspect the reliefs, thinking there might be a clue in the carvings. Selia noted that all the spells cast in the depictions were of the Conjuration school. They decided to try casting a spell from that school to activate the portal. Selia chose Benign Transposition, chosing to cast the spell upon the columns themselves, even though the spell was meant to be cast on creatures, not objects. Surprisingly, her experiment worked. The spells on the reliefs began to glow and a portal opened between the columns. It led to a city they did not recognize, but presumed to be Bransea. They could see identical columns on the other side of the portal as well. A cat walked towards the columns on the other side, coming towards them. But when it reached the gate, it did not appear in Sigil, instead, it seemingly passed through the gate and disappeared, probably continuing on its path in Bransea. It probably meant the portal would need to be opened on the other side for travelers to pass through. After thirty seconds, the portal closed without them going through. After that they walked back to Market Ward to find the well that might contain the portal to West Andaria, Kainan. They examined the well, looking for markings, runes, writing, or anything that might provide a clue. But they found nothing. It looked like an ordinary well. They experimented in various ways. Titta flew into the well. Auren Sylynn was pushed into the well. They tossed a coin in. Nothing worked. There was water in the well and the rope and bucket worked. Eventually, they gave up, dried up, and went to eat dinner at the Prime Inn, an inn known for catering to beings from the Prime Material Plane. At the inn, Kyrie Eleison Thatcher-Stone asked the waitress if she had ever heard of Embril. She had not. Kyrie also asked the bartender, who had. It had been years, but he remembered some travelers who said they were from there. Unfortunately, he had not seen them for years and did not know what had become of them. After dinner, the party went back to Miren’s Fine Inn and Tavern in Clerk’s Ward to call it a night. The next day, on May 21, 500 AV, they waited at the inn until Thessalni arrived. The tout told them she had made some progress and had a promising meeting later that afternoon with another contact. She would return after that meeting to let them know what she learned. As the party waited for Thessalni to return, a pair of men approached Haymin’s Heroes and began asking them about Embril. Kyrie, who kept casting Tongues throughout the day spoke with them. She showed them a map of Embril and spoke a bit with them. She learned that one of them was from a world called Krynn. The other was a Sigil native. As they were speaking, Titta suddenly noticed a hand in her Bag of Holding. She immediately reached for it, grabbed the arm and held tight with her magically enhanced strength. She pulled the man’s arm out of the back and saw he was holding the letter to the Lady of Pain in his hand. Titta demanded he drop it. Kyrie translated and the man did so. At first, he tried to say that he had tripped and his hand fell into the bag. But the party did not believe him for a second. The first two men acted like they did not know the thief. The party did not believe them either. They took this seen outside at the request from the bartender. It drew a small crowd. The first two men quietly walked away as the seen moved outside. Several other men also walked away. The party spoke to the thief while Kyrie translated. Selia cast Comprehend Languages and Detect Thoughts, reading the man’s mind as they spoke to him. Auren attempted to cast Discern Lies from his ring, but this spell was resisted. Titta held on to the man’s arms the entire time, occasionally holding him up in the air. Selia read his mind while Kyrie spoke with him. They called out his lies and Selia informed the party what he was really thinking. The thief was part of a gang called the Demons. The two men who had struck up a conversation with the party were also part of the Demons, as were several others who had walked away earlier. The Demons were led by a balor named Zophrogan. His task was to steal the letter to the Lady of Pain. Zophrogan believed there could be some advantage gained from possessing such a letter. They had learned about the letter from some “stupid” girl who had been asking questions. They eventually let the thief go and told him to relay a message to Zophrogran that the letter was off limits. Then they waited for Thessalni. It was an hour or so after dinner, but Thessalni had never returned. Instead, four Demons approached the party. Three of them were human, but the fourth was a marilith, a large being with a snake-like lower half and a female, humanoid upper half with six arms. She came in with her six swords sheathed and spoke to the party, informing them they had their tout, the girl named Thessalni. She told them that Zophrogan demanded the letter in order to set the girl free. If they refused, Zophrogan would torture her until he was content before ultimately beheading her. The marilith stated that Zophrogan did not negotiate. They must hand over the letter immediately, or the girl would suffer. Titta gave the marilith the letter. The demon said the girl would be released after she returned to Zophrogan. Then the marilith used its Teleport ability to disappear. Her three companions looked surprised by her disappearance and quietly walked away. Haymin’s Heroes began following the Demons, with Auren in the lead, leaving enough distance to avoid their notice. The rest of the party followed him at a distance as well. They followed the Demons to the Hive, through the slums of the district and into an area dominated by junkyards and refuse. The junk was piled so high in places it almost formed walls. The Demons went through a corridor in the trash that opened up to a wider area dominated by other members of their gang. There were six babaus, demons which the party had fought before in the Tomb of Horrors. There were also four vrocks, another demon type they had also previously encounterd. And there were five human warriors as well. Auren backed away from the entrance before being seen. He told the others what awaited them and they began to prepare for battle. They casted spells and readied their weapons, before charging in. the Demons were waiting for them, relishing the coming combat.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists