Session 42

Heroes: Meghera, Serghor, Zark, Trull

The mysterious prisoner looks human, except for his astonishing size; he stands at least 8 feet tall, his body muscular and as strong as steel. On his skin, he bears metalllic "coins" with a hole in the center. He calls himself Raziel, and admits to not knowing Meghera personally, but that he needs her to go "back home". Trull arranges a meeting between Meghera and the strange man. When she meets Raziel, Meghera has several flashbacks of her past life, leaving her with even more unanswered questions. Raziel asks her to find a way to free him from the Prison, so that they may go home together.

Meghera, intrigued by the riddle presented by Raziel, asks Trull to help her postpone the execution date of Raziel. The half-orc confers with Factol Nilesia, who offers a bargain. She'll leave the fate of the mysterious prisoner to Trull, if he will complete a mission for the Mercykillers.

It seems that the Modron, in their premature March, have found a new portal to leave Carceri. The Factol wants Trull to travel to Carceri, find this new portal, and close it; she cannot bear the thought of so many souls escaping the most fearsome prison of the multiverse!

Trull enlists the help of the other Heroes, and they travel to Carceri via the portal town of Curst, arriving on Othrys, the first layer of the prison plane. They follow the modron tracks in the fetid swamps of Othrys, when they realize that the modron have left the orb on which they now stand, flying to one of the other floating orbs riddling Othrys' black void. 

As they try to find a way to move to the next orb, a human woman approaches them. She introduces herself as Aach, and she admits to have seen the modron passing by. For a fair price, she will accompany the Heroes to where the modron left Carceri. After some negotiations, they settle on a price, and Aach leaves to fetch her hot-air balloon made from petitioners' skin.

The Heroes jump on board, and they begin their travel among the orbs of Othrys. During the trip, Aach tries to pry them for information about their mission, but the Heroes remain guarded. When they reach their destination, Aach tells them that the modron simply jumped inside one of the nearby pools of quicksand and disappeared. The Heroes make a leap of faith, and dive into the deadly sands.

On the other side of the portal, they find themselves in an underground complex. After a short exploration, they find another portal, most probably leading to the Abyss, and they realise that great magic is at work, and that the portals must have been created by a powerful wizard; someone who does not fear to have active portals to the Lower Planes in his dungeons!

They soon come into contact with the inhabitants of the compound; in some sort of guard room, they fight a flock of harpies, but it's clear that the monsters are just minions of something more powerful. Not long after, they stand in the presence of a dark elf woman, clad in armor, and wielding a spider-tipped scepter.