Session 28

Heroes: Meghera, Zark, Vaako

With midnight soon approaching, Serghor decides to go and look for Sai. Unfortunately, neither of them returns in time for the appointed meeting. When the remaining Heroes show up, Gallus is disappointed to notice two of them are missing. Still, he asks the others to go and hide before the meeting begins.

The opposite faction shows up quite late, and the Heroes are surprised to see Riza and her two suitors approaching and greeting Gallus. While Riza and Gallus discuss about some sort of military arrangement, tensions are on the rise. The young woman constantly targets the older man with jests, until he loses his patience. When blades begin to be drawn, the Heroes spring into action.

Yet, nothing is at it seems. Riza's body expands and changes, revealing her true form... a marilith from the Abyss! Her companions follow suit, revealing themselves as two balors! Gallus and his two associates are not impressed, as they also drop their disguise, revealing themselves as pit fiends. The Heroes soon realise that they're stuck in the middle of a Blood War skirmish.

Zark summons his undead horde, with Riza and Gallus doing the same. Soon, the cemetery becomes a veritable battlefield, with demons and devils unleashing monstrous attacks and magic, undead fighting on all sides, and the Heroes trying to give what help they can to the devils, in order to honor their deal.

Thanks to the Heroes tipping the scales in their favour, the devils ae victorious, but the destruction left behind is terrible to behold. Yet, when the Heroes ask for the rest of their money, Gallus tells them they've failed to uphold their part of the deal, since two of the Heroes are still missing. Not willing to further anger three pit fiends, the Heroes leave the cemetery.

The day after, they find Serghor and Sai coming their way; they explain that they were taken prisoners by the demons the day before, and only recently managed to escape. All together, the Heroes return to Sigil to spend their ill-gained platinum coins. But even after Serghor has performed all sorts of holy magic to remove whatever curse may affect both the Heroes and the coins, a lingering effect still remains. Whenever they try to spend the coins, the platinum starts to bleed, staining their hands until magic is used to remove the effect. Further investigation reveals that only a powerful devil can lift the curse from the money completely.

The Heroes store the coins in a safe place, hoping to get rid of the curse in the future. But one of them has been affected differently by the curse. Deep in her heart, Meghera begins to crave more of the platinum coins, and feels that only by working for the Baatezu will she obtain more.

* * *

The Heroes are hired by the Godsmen to find and question Zeracuk, and old dwarven sage with vast knowledge about portals, recenty passed away. As a follower of the power Dugmaren Brightmantle, his soul is now on its way to the Dwarven Mountain in the Outlands. The Heroes must find him before he reaches his god, and forgets most of his knowledge.

The Heroes take a portal to Strongale Hall, one of the vast dwarven communities in the Dwarven Mountains. From there, they hire a guide to Soot Hall, where they inquiry about Zeracuk. From the dwarven curator, they learn that recently a misplaced petitioner from Carceri arrived in the Hall, but no sign of Zeracuk. It seems obvious that Zeracuk has been sent to Carceri by accident. The curator, eager to have Zeracuk sent to his proper place, asks the Heroes to travel to Carceri and bring him back.

When the Heroes reach Carceri, they find themselves among the craggy mountains of the evil plane. They must cross dangerous, swaying rope bridges, tracking down old Zeracuk. At a crossroad, they meet a Hill Giant petitioner on her way to meet her own god, Grolantor. They travel together for a while, until they reach a hill giant steadfast. The brutes inhabiting the place do not seems very friendly.