Fire and Brimstone 13-04-2024 [[Website/DND/Curse of the Crones/Sessions/Main/Session 13|<- Previous Session]] ### Recap After investigating the explosion at the Black Swan hideout, the party escape underground to find more answers about the Conduit and the Chalice. Smonk disappears into the dark after losing control. After leaving the crime scene behind, the party continues the meeting with the rebellion and ties up the loose ends. That night, Nibiru has an intense encounter with a Beasty Boy from her past. The party leaves Oreton behind and starts heading south, where they are intercepted by Krazzir. After a fierce fight, they force the Oni to flee and continue on their journey south. Further along the party finds an ancient temple and protect its contents from a Tzeetch, from which they but barely escape due to the help of their patron Nyx. But how much time has passed in the material plane... ### Summary Just having returned from the Feywild, the party takes a quick breather at the temple trying to regroup and figure out how much time has passed. Looking at the grazing of the horses anywhere from one full day to four could have gone by in their time in the Feywild, leaving the party somewhere between 16 and 12 days until the summer solstice. The professor suggests jumping on the horses and galloping with fast pace through the woods. Though more dangerous, they can make up time that way. However, before the party can leave a strange voice warns Majibili about something and he rushes off into the woods. Deciding there isn't any time to head after him the party trusts the druid to find his way back to the party when ready. The party swiftly moves through the forest until they reach the forest edge. There they see the remnants of a magical battle which has scorched the forest around the edge. Not only does the party find the tracks and sooth of fire magic, they also find an unconscious humanoid creature seemingly made of fire. Cautiously approaching the figure, Allen tries to wake the creature. Before anyone can reach them, the creature suddenly jolts awake. The party learns the being is a fire genasi called Drildo, who was out traveling with their friend Blue. Though neither the party nor Drildo trust each other, a smitten Allen uses his detect thoughts to figure out that Drildo is speaking the truth and in search of her friend as she said. A tentative alliance is made between them, as they both seem to be heading the same way. The party agrees to help Drildo find her friend Blue as long as the path follows theirs. The professor notices a trail of sooth from a burned body that was being dragged away. The party jumps on their horses, Allen taking Drildo on his horse, and follows the trail. After traveling through the rolling hills and fields of the Widelands, Flynn and the professor notice a small green creature following the party. Quickly tackling and pinning it in place the party try to interrogate the fiendish creature. However, the creature seemingly only speaks an unknown language. Though the party doesn't know what it means the creature says: "Sarnan an vorron balmenure... Maphistar morat ochorun vleer! Atmorta! Mor goth ochoru vex. Mortat morat an ayetarur Invernus. Regiga morat, Sangius arretanur!" While continually chanting the final sentence at Flynn, the creature seems to be all to willing to be killed. The party decide to tie up the creature and Flynn places it in his bag next to his monkey. The party continues their way following the trail of sooth. Eventually the party find an old and abandoned statue of a non-descript merchant on a plateau in the middle of a field. The statue is overgrown and weathered and seems abandoned. In front of the statue the party finds a metal brazier for offerings to the statue. Determining that there is a hidden mechanism in the plateau, the party tries to activate it, even toppling the statue itself over. Determined that they have to offer the correct thing in the flames of the brazier, Nibiru and the professor try to offer gold and silver. Flynn takes out the fiend and tries to offer him, but his body flakes and turns to ash while the creature smirks and says "Told you, I'll just return home..." Finally, Drildo cuts her own hand and bleeds into the fire, activating the plateau, which opens up to a spiral staircase heading deep into the earth. The party descends down the stair into the darkness below. After a long descent the party arrives in an old overgrown hall filled with stonework paintings built within the walls of the room. The professor notices that one of the paintings, the one without a name displayed with it, is a secret door in disguise. The rest of the paintings all depict various fiendish creatures with their names carved into the stone in Infernal. Bradley tries to cast comprehend language, but his eldritch tongue calls up an abomination of tentacles made from black smoke emanating from him. The rest of the party manages to escape to the stairs quick enough to avoid the tentacles lashing, but Bradley himself gets damaged. In the end he did manage to read the names of all 8 paintings, only missing the name of the secret door. Though most names are unknown, both Asmodeus and Mammon are familiar to the party. They determine that the paintings must depict the lords and ladies of the nine hells. The professor shimmies the mechanism of the hidden door open and the party enters the hidden temple of the Chalice. Once inside the party quickly moves through the sanctuary, clearing out the cultists in the common room as well as heading to the dungeon where they stop a torturer from maiming a poor sod captured by the Chalice. While the professor and Allen help the unconsious victim with an impromptu surgery, the rest of the party moves through the temple finding many documents and items on their way. During their search, Flynn gets attacked by a mimic hidden in the storage room, but with the help of Nibiru and Drildo they quickly end the creature. In their search the party learns the temple is dedicated to the devil called Sangius, duke of the sixth layer of hell known as Ichor. Furthermore, the party ends up finding a map annotated by the Chalice in addition to a letter from 'Captain Thornak' addressed to 'Vorak'. Lastly, the party tries to identify a magical door in the dungeon, which seemingly wards the creature inside on a interplanar level. After the party looted the temple, they headed to the backroom of the altar where a ritual was held to turn Drildo's friend Blue, apparently a baby blue dragon, and put him under mind control of the Chalice. The party clashes steel with Thornak, the Illrigger that keeps this coven of the Chalice and his two underlings, in addition with some cultists. The cultists were swiftly defeated by a wall of fire by Drildo, after which the fearsome fight with the Illriggers began. Though it was close, with both Nibiru and Flynn going down multiple times, the party eventually succeeded in killing the Illriggers of Sangius and stop the ritual. Blue woke up from his magic spell and jumped into the arms of Drildo, finally safe again. While the party recuperated, and the professor looted the body of Thornak, Bradley decided now was a good moment to desecrate the temple of Sangius with his shit... Before the party could take a breather the air suddenly shifted into a fiery heat, as out of the sky a portal opened. From the hellish portal a Erinyes Magat of Sangius reached out and set her sights on killing Bradley. Swiftly she decended her judgement on the halfling, causing the party to panic. Should they fight and face the wrath of Sangius' army? Or should they run and try to retrieve the body of their comrad in another way? While everyone chose to either help or run, Flynn bade to the Poofairy and, with concord of the court of muck and mulch, summoned a Poo dragon to defend the party. However, it did not prove enough, as the Erinyes killed Bradley and, satisfied enough with their work, left again. The party jumped into action, using the Everroot they got from the Tuberhead earthling to revive Bradley. With the danger passed, the party split up to deal with their own thoughts. Allen helped Bradley out of the temple to recuperate, Flynn went and admired the painting of Dagon, duchess of wrath, while the rest of the party went to the enchanted door with a key they found on Thornak's body. Opening the door, the party find an extinct creature known as a Gnome. This gnome, called Finley Gearsworth, is an artificer which the Chalice kidnapped from Hell to force him to work for the Chalice. Finley thanks the party for rescuing him and urges the party to give him Thornak's key. Eventually the party buckles and the gnome quickly tinkers with it. Trying to teleport away with some contraption, Finley suddenly becomes rather confused and rash as he finds out he isn't on the plane he *thought* he would be. Breaking a ward on his neck, he calls upon Titania that he is ready to pay off his debt. Before the party can ask for any clarifications, the gnome gets whisked away into the Feywild. The party raid the rest of his workshop for any useful information and magic items. Finally escaping the dingy air of the temple, the party exits via the stairs and decide to camp out a bit further on. In the evening, the professor is busy identifying the items they have found, while Bradley focusses on deciphering the infernal and gnomish texts they have found. In the meantime Allen and Drildo talk about what their next moves should be and if they should continue to travel together. Nibiru tried out their new goggles, trying to find out what the other planes entailed. Shock after shock ensued as the material plane was completely blacked out, as if gone. The negative plane seemed to have a fracture within its air, through which smoke in four colors mingled (red, purple, yellow, and green), and finally looking into the celestial plane the party was spotted back, as a creature made of the night sky tried to punish them for spying on the gods. Quickly turning off the glasses, the party settled in for the night. Flynn decides to go for a little walk alone, encountering a small goblin with a beautiful moustache called Goblini. They talk a while, Flynn mainly venting how he has made multiple cosmic enemies in the short time of traveling with this group, while all he wanted was to help his aunt have a better life in Oreton. Goblini gives him a coupon for free food at the restaurant he is going to start in Stillwater and gives him a piece of enchanted bread that keeps regenerating. Then disappearing again into the night. The party settles in for the night, as the moon rises ever higher, unsure of what tomorrows travels will bring... ### NPCs * **Blue.** A baby blue dragon and best friend of Drildo. Captured by the Chalice, but saved by the Snigg Squad before he could be corrupted. * **Quasit.** Weird familiar of the Chalice which was spying on the Snigg Squad. * **Thornak.** Captain of the Coven of the Chalice near the Firgan forest and an Illrigger of the devil Sangius. Killed in battle by the Snigg Squad * **Finley Gearsworth.** Gnome Artificer who escaped from hell. Forced to make magic items for the Chalice to help them control the Conduit. * **Goblini.** Small goblin chef, who travelled the word to find the best blend between cuisines. His dream is to open his own restaurant in Stillwater. * **Sangius.** Duke of Envy, Ruler of Ichor. One of the lords of the nine hells and being of worship for the Chalice. * **Dagon.** Duchess of Wrath, Ruler of Brathor. One of the ladies of the nine hells. Strange facination of Flynn. ### Loot * Annotated Map of the Widelands (Nibiru) * 'Torn Invernorare' book (Nibiru) * Document of the Nine Hells (Bradley) * Translated Text from 'Githas mal Infernes' (Bradley) * Letter to Vornak (Drildo) * Schematics Finley (Bradley) * 2 x Hellfire Potion (Flynn) * Flame Shiv (Professor) * 2 x Telefon (Professor) * Planar Goggles (Nibiru) * Illrigger's Axe (Nibiru) * Vial with green liquid (Professor) * Flask of ochre oil (Allen) * 2 x Greater Healing Potion (Allen) * 5 x Enchanted Arrow +3, (Professor) * Torturer's Flail (Allen) * Infinibread (Flynn) [[Website/DND/Curse of the Crones/Sessions/Main/Session 15|Next Session ->]]