One-Shot: Assault on Arkhan's Tower
Several unaffiliated mercenary adventurers were summoned to the Black Isles, each offered information they'd been seeking and a large sum of gold in exchange for participating in Marshall's war against Tiamat. The fog parted before them, leading them on a path to Lady Kemlar's mansion. Led by her servant Jinxer, they met her in her teahouse where she explained the job. They were to capture Tiamat's general Arkhan the Cruel, dead or alive, albeit intact so that Lady Kemlar could put him through a thorough interrogation. The group accepted and Lady Kemlar gave them their gold as advance payment before planeshifting the group, herself, and her bodyguards to Avernus.
Lady Kemlar and her guards departed on other business while the group made their way to Marshall's war camp. The cleric-general of Stronmaus explained his forces would attack Arkhan's forces from the west so that they could sneak up on his fortress, Arkhan's Tower, from the east. Making their way across the River Styx with the help of Marshall's friend Kishin, the group was spotted on approach by a white dragon sitting atop the 1000 ft. tower. They fled into the tower before it could swoop down upon them, the wall closing behind them and blocking their exit.
Trapped inside, the adventurers began to fight their way up the tower, first battling hordes of undead that guarded the lower floors. The middle floors marked the beginning of levels that were guarded by adult dragons, a trend that continued until they finally reached the roof to face Arkhan the Cruel and his inner circle. Arkhan was in the midst of a ritual that would free Tiamat from her confinement when the group arrived, openly stating he would finish it after dealing with the adventurers.
It turned out that he meant deal in a more literal sense than they thought, offering to triple whatever pay Marshall had given them in exchange for their walking away. This offer was quickly rescinded when the group mentioned having been hired by Lady Kemlar, with Arkhan refusing to make a deal with anyone who served The Whispered One either directly or indirectly.
Though the battle was fierce, the adventurers emerged victorious as Arkhan and his inner circle fell dead at their feet. However, during this battle they realized that Arkhan's gnarled left hand was in fact the Hand of Vecna, and that obtaining this artifact was likely Lady Kemlar's true goal. Caring little for this, Mr. Hydration left the others to collect dragon eggs on a lower floor of the tower. Ibrahim and Tim both attempted to teleport away with the artifact, triggering a cursed Mark of Evil that Lady Kemlar had placed on them when they agreed to her deal for attempting to violate the agreement.
Lady Kemlar and her bodyguards arrived soon after, questioning the unconvincing adventurers about their intentions. While her attention was focused on the others, Genevieve took the opportunity to seize the Hand of Vecna from Tim and put one bag of holding into another, sending herself and the Hand to the Astral Plane. Displeased, Lady Kemlar fired Ibrahim and Tim from their contracts and advised them to leave her presence, which they quickly did via Ibrahim's casting of a plane shift spell. Once they were gone, Lady Kemlar promptly cast a gate spell and pulled Genevieve back to her, swiftly killing the warforged woman and claiming the Hand of Vecna. She then phase shifted back to her teahouse, musing to Koragg that they would claim the Eye of Vecna from its confinement on Mount Celestia by using Sweetmeat's need for a defense attorney as a reason to be there.
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