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You spend two full days in Candlekeep, resting and resupplying - preparing before going to Elturel. Finally after two days - Traxigor prepares to teleport you to Elturel.
"I wish you success in this quest." Then looking at Lulu, "And Lulu, good luck, I hope that you are able to recover your memories again. I have enjoyed our time together. But it's time we part ways."
looking back at the group, "Remember, don't lose the recall stone - it's your only way out of Avernus. Use the sending stones only in an emergency if you need to reach me. They only will work for 10 minutes per day. Lastly, beware of the shield. Gargauth may be more powerful once you reach Avernus." Traxigor twitches his nose as he thinks for a moment and then snaps back to being present. "Right. Lets get this done."
Bruno paces restlessly while waiting for Traxigor to send them to Elturel. He fidgets nervously and attempts to keep his mind occupied, checking and rechecking his backpack and pouches to make sure everything is in place. As they are about to teleport, he struggles to steady his breathing and calm his nerves. He scrunches his eyes tight as Traxigor’s spell finishes and feels the uneasy sensation of being teleported again, like missing a step at the bottom of the stairs. When he opens his eyes again, they are in hell. His hell. The hell he’s seen in his visions for years, made real.
As you stand in a circle, Traxigor taps the tuning fork on the ground
As the Planeshift spell is cast, you feel a tingle as you shift out of phase and enter the astral plane briefly, before suddenly materializing again.
A hot, stinging air assaults your senses. The city street in which you stand is lined with buildings that are crumbling, if not already collapsed. The ground shudders beneath your feet. In the red, smoky sky, a 400-foot-diamater sphere of darkness discharges strokes of bluish-white lightning that strike the city at irregular intervals. Perched atop a distant bluff, overlooking the rest of the city, is a crumbled fortress.
Traxigor gazes up at the black orb nervously,
He utters a few arcane syllables, and disappears in the blink of an eye.
Reya is disheartened by what she sees around her—Elturel in shambles—as she takes in the situation her face transitions from disbelief to determination.
"No. No! This will not stand! I will not let my people succumb to this fate! I can lead us to the High Hall cathedral, it's possible we may find someone there that is able to fill us in on what is happening"
Lulu looks around and a soft glow surrounds her.
"The surroundings here feel familiar, in a terrible way, familiar. Be careful, I sense many devils close by."
Lulu stays close to the party as she looks around cautiously
Suddenly the entire party hears Gargauth speaking audibly.
"So, we are in Avernus at last." The voice sounds agitated. "I am surprised it is not already overrun by devils... That must mean they are being slowed down...interesting. Do not linger in this city for long, you don't want to be pulled into the river styx"
Buildings are partially crumbling, You hear occasional screams, and sounds in the distance.
What do you do?
Go to High Hall Cathedral
Explore Elturel streets
Look for a way down to Avernus
Do something else (be specific)
Time: 12:02 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Roving bands of Devils
Looking around, Bruno is surprised he’s remarkably less terrified than he thought he’d be. His heart is pounding like a jackhammer but he’s seen these crumbling buildings, the red tinged sky, and the wrecked streets in his visions before. Now that he’s here, it’s almost like… familiar territory. Like the visions weren't just a warning of dire things to come, but maybe also a way to train him, prepare him, for this moment?
Dartan puts a hand on Reya's shoulder to steady her.
"We are here to set this right. We will do everything we can to save as many as we can. Lead us to the cathedral - it is likely the last bastion of hope we will see for a long time. We should expect to be attacked at any moment, the devils may have been slowed, but not stymied."
Reya nods at Dartan as she looks off in the distance at the crumbling cathedral.
He takes a moment and scratches Lulu behind the ears.
"As for you little one...well currently little anyways hahaha. Stay close. Between you and I we may be able to sense the evils of this place before they have the opportunity to catch us off guard."
He sees the horror on Bruno's face and turns to him reassuringly.
"Steady, friend. This place exists because of the evils of others. You have done much to thwart evil since we have met. Do not think for a moment that this is not where you are meant to be. Once we are finished here, you will be perhaps even stronger than Traxigor! Maybe even show him a thing or two."
He turns to the others with a determined set to his jaw and a sardonic smile on his face.
"Welcome to hell"
Bruno's face winces, and a sense of fear tries to push itself up into his throat when Dartan mentions devils lurking about but he forces it back down again. Swallowing hard, he looks to the group and tries to put on a brave face.
“Thank you Dartan. I’m not…fine, obviously…but I will do what I can.” Bruno sets his jaw. “I agree we should not linger here. It feels too…exposed. Let’s head to the Cathedral.”
Hippee, now familiar with the heat and smell of Avernus, opens his eyes to see the ruined city around him. On instinct Hippee conjures his mage hand should any nasty insects be around bothering the party. Agreeing with Reya
“I’m with you Hellrider, let’s visit your cathedral.”
Reya looks up at the sky, as a meteor streaks down and crashes into a building a few blocks over. You feel the ground shake as the impact occurs.
Reya walks over and looks at one of the nearby buildings, and turns toward the party with a tear in her eye.
"This house belonged to a friend of mine...", She pushes the broken door open and peeks inside. "Empty... I hope she made it out of here"
Reya gets a determined look on her face that turns to a tinge of anger, and she walks off toward the Cathedral, "Stay close, Bartok" She says as she draws her sword.
Around the corner of a still-standing structure runs a woman with two toddlers, one on each arm. In her wake amble three infernal monsters with glaives and snakelike beards. The fiends are laughing darkly.
What do you do?
5 Minutes pass
Time: 12:07 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Soul Harvesters
Bruno’s insides turn cold and his stomach drops as he sees the woman fleeing from the fiends. He tries to press himself against a nearby wall and shoots a worried glance at Dartan, Reya, and Bartok.
“We must come to terms now with the fact that we cannot save everyone. We must be smart and pick our battles.”
Bruno’s heart sinks further as he stares at the toddlers in the woman’s arms. It feels like the image of fear and terror on her face will forever be etched in his memory. He forces himself to turn away and look back at the group.
“We should try and avoid as much attention as possible getting to the cathedral before we end up fighting every fiend in Avernus.”
Dartan's mouth drops as he hears Bruno.
"You may be right, but we....I... cannot take that chance. Children, Bruno."
Dartan steps into the middle of the path brandishing his sword and shield and gestures to the woman to come to him. As he does, he casts Compelled Duel on the devil in the middle of the three.
Seeing the Woman fleeing with the children, Bartok is instantly filled with Joy! They're alive! All his prayers and hopes have been answered! Then seeing the bearded Monsters, he can't contain his despair!
"No! Nooooo! Ye won't touch her, ya filthy demons!" He yells at the monsters. Bartok doesn't even register the conversation between bruno and Dartan. HIs whole attention is focused on the demons, as he brings his shield to bear, and moves up to flank DArtan.
Reya steps up next to Bartok, holding her long sword, and glaring at the devils.
"These three get to be the first to pay for what their kind has done to my city"
Reya charges the Devils.
Lulu's eyes turn pink as she glares at the devils chasing the woman with the toddlers, She trumpets her trunk,
"Bearded Devils. I remember fighting these before"
Bruno hisses a curse as Dartan and Bartok step out into the street. Reaching into his component pouch, he tries to keep out of sight.
The three devils look at the party as you emerge from the corner and laugh, as they pause, then in a dark tone,
"Oh what have we here? A militia, coming to stop us" The devils laugh
"I like it when they resist. Harvest them!" shouts the one in the middle.
Roll for initiative
1 Minutes pass
Time: 12:08 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Bearded Devils (Round 1)
Bruno casts Slow and two of the three Devils are affected and you see them instantly slow down. Their laughing gets deeper as they are affected by the spell
"Serves me right for going to hell with a Paladin…"
Lulu aids Dartan giving him advantage on his
"Paladin of Tyr, I will aid you! "(Lulu uses her telepathy to aid Dartan, giving him Advantage on his next turn)
Arkon fires his long bow and hits one of the Devils dealing 9 points of poison damage! But the Devil is immune, and takes no damage!
Arkons second shot hits, but again the Devil is immune and takes no damage!
"Go to hell... wait.. stay in hell!"
The devil laughs darkly,
"Nice try, human. that wont work on me!"
The Devil slices into Dartan with its wicked Glaive, dealing 8 points of damage!
The Devils snake beard lashes out and bites Dartan, dealing 6 points of damage. (Make a CON Save vs DC 12)
The Devils slashes at the woman in the back with his Glaive, hitting for 6 points of damage.
The slowed Devil slashes at Dartan but he blocks with his shield.
Bartok casts Sacred Flame, The Bearded devil dodges the beam of sacred flame as Bartok finishes his spell
"Keep yer snaky beard off her!"
Hippee fires a beam of purple energy at a devil.but the devil side steps the attack.
"The plan of the devils will show itself."
Reya attacks one of the devils but the devil parry’s with its Glaive
She follows up with a second attack and the devil parries again.
Dartan casts Wrathful Smite
He hits the Bearded Devil, dealing 18 points of damage!
His second attack hits and deals 13 points of damage!
The bearded devils begin to Howl loudly, as if calling for reinforcements.
The Hidden lord speaks, "How amusing to watch. I wonder how many of these lesser devils you can face before you're spent" The hidden lord laughs.
Time: 12:08 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Bearded Devils (Round 2)
Bruno fires off his ray of frost at a bearded devil. His blast hits the devil for 7 points of frost damage!
"We need to take care of this quickly and get out of here!"
Lulu once again aids Dartan, giving him advantage on his next attack roll.
Arkon casts Hunters Mark on a Bearded Devil.
Arkon smashes one of the Bearded Devils, crushing its face, sending Devil ichor splattering, dealing 10 points plus 4 points for being marked. total of 14 points of damage!
Arkon smashes the devil again, dealing 10 points plus another 7 points for Colossus slayer. Total of 17 points
"I thought the arrows might not work, let`s try a fecking hammer instead!"
The bearded Devil swings at Dartan and misses.
The bearded devil strikes at Dartan with its beard, but Dartan blocks.
The bearded Devil strikes at Arkon, hitting Arkon with its glaive for 8 points of damage.
The bearded devil lashes out with it`s beard, critically hitting Arkon for 12 points of damage!
The Devil snarls and jabs at Dartan, but Dartan blocks with his shield!
The devils snake beard bites Dartan in the neck but misses!
"These mortals are going to be trouble! Where are the reapers?"
"They are close!" The devils howl again.
Bartok, With a LUCKY shot, crushes a bearded devil in the chest, dealing 12 points of damage!
"Time to lose yer knees Scumbag!"
With another lucky bash with his shield, he smacks the Devil in the face for 6 points of damage!
Hippee sends a blast of energy at the Devil, hitting it with a lucky strike to the beard, dealing 10 points of damage! The Devil falls down dying!
Reya slashes the Devil in the back, dealing 9 points of damage!
"Fall, for your crimes! Devil!"
Reya stabs the devil through the back for another 8 points of damage!
Dartan cuts into the devil, dealing 9 points of damage
He follows up with a second strike, cutting through its neck, sending devil Ichor spraying all over your face. Dealing 8 points of damage. The devil falls down dying.
As the devil falls, Dartan Crushes its skull with his shield. for 6 more points of damage.
Suddenly, off the roof of a nearby collapsing building you hear the jingling of metal and then a thud, as a blue skinned devil, covered in spiked chains lands on the ground nearby. The devil speaks in a strange harmonic tone
"You're souls belong to Zariel. Your bodies, are not required" There are bits of flesh and bone stuck in the devils nasty chains.
The reaper chain devil cracks her chains loudly and begins to whirl the bladed chains faster and faster as she prepares to strike.
Time: 12:08 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Bearded Devils (round 3)
The Reaper devil attacks Bartok, but Bartok blocks her chains with his shield!
The Devil attacks again, and Bartoks armor deflects the chains!
Bruno casts Tashas Mind whip, and the Devil takes 14 points of psychic damage, and loses some of its abilities. (No Reaction until end of next turn, can only take a move, bonus or standard action next turn)
Lulu flies up behind the Bearded Devil and gores it with her tusks, scoring a CRITICAL HIT, dealing 12 points of damage!
Arkon casts Hunters Mark on the reaper devil
The Ranger attacks with his Mail, and with a lucky hit, smashes the reaper devil in the chest for 7 points of damage!
Arkon follows up with an uppercut with his mail, crushing the devils jaw for 16 points of damage, and 3 points from hunters mark, and 5 points from his Colossus Slayer
The Bearded devil attacks Dartan but Dartan parries the blow with his Shield.
The Bearded Devil strikes at Dartan with his Beard, and Dartan`s armor protects him.
Bartok steps up to the reaper and with a vicious strike, crushes the reaper devil for 7 points of damage
Bartok follows up his mace attack with a fierce shield slam. The reaper dodges to the side as Bartok slams into the side of the building.
Hippee sends a crackling blast of energy and lands a lucky strike dealing 7 points of damage!
Reya slices the bearded devil dealing 5 points of damage
Reya stabs the devil through the head dealing 9 points of damage, killing it!
Dartan slices through the Reaper devil dealing 12 points of damage
He continues slicing tearing devil flesh with his sword for another 6 points of damage!
Dartan slams his shield into the Devil`s face, dealing 5 points of damage!
The reaper hisses and her eyes glow bright red.
Time: 12:08 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Bearded Devils (Round 4)
The reaper devil laughs darkly,
"Bow before me mortals!" Her chains move on their own, and begin to ensnare Bartok, Arkon and Dartan.
Dartan succeeds to avoid most of the whirling chain attack, and takes half damage and does not become entangled. 8 points of damage!
Bartok gets wrapped by the Reapers chains. The spikes and razors cut deep into his legs and flesh, dealing 12 points of damage, and entangling him
Arkon gets entangled by the razor chains, as they rip flesh to the bone. He takes 10 points of damage!
All creatures the devil can see that starts its turn within 30 feet of the devil, the devil can create the illusion that it looks like one of the creature`s departed loved ones or bitter enemies.
Dartan becomes frightened, seeing an image of a loved one from his past, wrapped in chains, begging for help.
Arkon becomes frightened, seeing an image of a past relationship that is being tormented by the devil.
Bruno becomes frightened as the devil takes on the image of a giant rat.
Reya becomes frightened as she sees a friend from Elturel appear where the Devil stood.
Hippee becomes frightened as he sees his father being tormented by the devil.
Bruno closes his eyes and sends a streak of ice at the Reaper devil. Luckily the ice hits, dealing 6 points of cold damage!
"NO! Walter"
Lulu casts Cure Wounds and heals the peasant for 7 points of life.
"Do not be afraid, you are with friends. We will protect you."
Arkon struggles as the chains keep wrapping around his arms and legs, while the spikes dig deeper and deeper. He misses his first attack.
Arkon keeps struggling as the chains wrap around his arms, preventing him from making contact with his maul.
Bartok casts healing word and Arkon recovers 11 points of life.
Hippee fires off his Eldritch blast, hitting the reaper devil for 13 points of damage!
Dartan slices through the reaper with his Longsword, dealing 12 points of damage. As the reaper falls, her body begins to crack and you hear strange crackling sound emerging from within her...
As the reaper falls, her body breaks open and her chains explode in all directions, slicing everyone within 20 feet for 15 points of damage (Lulu manages do dodge most of the explosion, and takes 7 damage)
As the dust settles, and the devil carnage remains in the street. You hear a howl in the distance and more screams as you hear more roving bands of Devils close by.
The Hidden lord laughs,
"You are a determined group. But you have alerted the devils to your presence here. They will be here soon. If i were you I would get out of the streets... But don't listen to me, I am a demon after all" The hidden lord laughs again.
Reya glares at the shield,
"We didn't ask for your help, Gargauth. Keep silent! FIend!" Reya snaps.
She looks off at the Catherdral, which is still hundreds of yards in the distance.
"Lets move, but we may want to consider Bruno's advice and stay out of sight. We are in Hell, and here, Devils and Demons are unending. They will outlast us. We must be smart"
Reya sheaths her blade and prepares to lead the party on toward the catherdral.
The woman with the Toddlers begs you to get her and her children to safety. Her children cry and wail loudly.
Lulu looks at the group,
"The more that accompany us, the more difficult our journey will be. Perhaps the mother and her children should lay low in one of these buildings until we can send help? I can help sooth the little ones... there there, it'll be ok..."
Lulu sends her thoughts to the children and they soon stop crying.
What do you do?
2 minutes pass
Time: 12:10 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration
Staying out of sight
Bruno shoots a worried glance down the nearby streets and up on the crumbling roofs, looking for more devils. Seeing the coast is clear for the time being he looks to the group.
“We can’t stay here. More will be on the way. Reya, how long will it take to reach the cathedral if we’re careful and try to stay out of sight?”
Bruno casts a concerned look at the woman and her two kids before sighing heavily.
“And with us moving with three more.”
Reya looks at the cathedral in the distance, as a meteor streaks down and crashes into an area of the city a few blocks away with a crash.
“Well, if we move unfettered, we could be there in less than 15 minutes. But without seeing the damage to the streets and trying to avoid dangers along the way. Maybe the better part of an hour”
Bruno nods at Reya, seemingly pleased with the answer.
“Under an hour works.”
Bruno looks around at the group, giving them all an appraising look. He looks at the heavily armored dwarf and Paladin and winces.
“If we’re going to sneak about, we’re going to need to find a way to make us less…noticeable. I can make someone invisible for an hour. That should help us avoid detection.”
Bruno looks from the heavily armored pair to the woman and her children.
“Unfortunately, I can only make one person invisible. Two max, *if* we really had to. Madam, do you know of any mostly concealed routes from here to the cathedral?”
Bruno looks to Arkon.
“You look like a man who can go unseen if he wants to. Any suggestions on how to get us all to the cathedral undetected?”
The woman shakes her head,
"No, we have not been able to get far, there are monsters everywhere. What has happened to our city? Why is this happening?"
Bartok looks distraught at the idea of leaving the woman behind, but he understands they Must get to the cathedral, or all will be lost. Grabbing a bandage and pressing it against the seeping wound in his leg created by the chains, he limps over to the woman and children.
"I'm sorry for all you've been through lass. If we get done what we need to, may be there's a chance for us all to get out of this alive. It's not much..." (Bartok hands her 2 of his rations and 2 of his waterskins,) "But it may keep ya goin until we gets it done." He looks up at her and the children in her arms with sadness. "GEt to cover lass.... Quickly... and may the Baroness protect ya."
Looking back at the group, Bartok slams his mace back in his belt hook and rotates his shield to his back once more.
"WE best be movin lads. Reya is right! This be a race against time now, and ther wont be an end to these buggers. Let's get it done, for All the pour souls left here in this damned city. May be we can stay between the buildings, or find us a shorter path." Bartok pulls a potion from his pack as they start and drinks it down.
As Bartok hands her some rations and water and tells her they are leaving her and her children, she begins to get a scared look on her face.
"Please don't leave us! There are more monsters showing up everyday! Please take us with you!" The woman begins crying at the thought of being left alone.
To the party,
“let’s get off the street and I will attempt to guide us through without attacking everything in sight.”
The ranger speaks low and kind to the peasant, “be easy, you are safe in our care, tell me, where were you bound that you risk being in the open?”
The peasant woman, with a shaky voice.
“W..we have been staying in an abandoned house a few blocks over. The devils passed by several times until today, we had to flee.” She points in a direction away from the cathedral in the general direction of the abandoned house she took refuge in
Standing, Dartan wheezes and walks to the woman and children.
"I know what its like to be alone and frightened. We will do what we can to help return you where you belong. We must be quiet and quick, for who knows what other evils lurk here. Let us follow our guides and pray to the gods to protect our passage."
Dartan drinks a potion and puts a hand on Mace's shoulder.
"I know you don't understand me. Or agree with me. I promise you, I will do what I can to protect the innocent. I know you think it's folly, but what hope do we have of saving this place if we lose our souls in the process? Yes, yes, I know we can't do anyone any good dead, but I would rather die fighting to save one, than watch an innocent die because of my inaction. You have my word, I will follow your guide as best as I can. As best as my conscience allows."
“Let’s make quiet haste to the Cathedral…adding a few more bodies will only be detrimental to us but it’ll give us an extra layer of shielding from these wretched devils” Hippee winks at the children “Kidding, young ones, merely kidding”
One of the toddlers eyes fill up with tears as Hippee is speaking and his bottom lip starts to quiver. Lulu tries to sooth her so she doesn’t cry, but it’s too late and she begins to cry loudly. You hear some snarling and shrieking in the not to far off distance.
The party decides to travel with the peasant woman and her two toddlers, and Arkon takes the party off the street, traveling through alleys and avoiding patrols as you spot them.
You navigate through alleyways, until you reach a particular alley that has a ladder that leads up to the roof of one of the still intact buildings.
There is also a sewer entrance close by, as well as a door leading into the structure.
You suddenly spot a large, black skinned devil with large wings about 50 feet away, walking toward the party. The Fiend has in tow, four humans in chains. The humans two men and two women, have cuts and bruises all over their bodies and their clothes are torn and hang like rags on them The Devil yanks the chain periodically making the prisoners lunge forward with each violent pull. Behind the four prisoners are two of the Chain covered Reaper Devils. They are laughing darkly.
What do you do?
10 minutes pass
Time: 12:20 PM
Date: Tenthday , 10 , Mitrul
Location: Avernus (Elturel)
Gamephase: Exploration