TL;DW / Recap
After using Traxi’gore’s planeshift spell the Dickbags find themselves in the city of Elturel, somewhere on the plane of Avernus. Above them looms a 400ft sphere of darkness that emits random bolts of bluish-white lightning. Below them is the river Styx.
As the group tries to get their bearings, they notice a woman carrying two toddlers running away from three fiends with snake-like beards who appear to be pursueing them. The Dickbags rush to investigate and find the fiends closing in on the woman, whose now trapped in an alley way. Ser Nedir wastes no time and attacks the fiends, the rest of the group follows suit. The group makes short work of the fiends and turn to the woman and children to check on them.
The woman introduces herself as Harkina Hunt. She and her children have been in hiding since the city fell to Avernus. They recently ran out of food and water and were out seeking supplies. Upon hearing this, Liam pulls out the Alchemy jug and summons fresh water for the family to fill their water skins. He also provides them with 10 rations to help them get by. Beside herself, she thanks Liam and the group for their aid.
The Dickbags continue on towards High Hall. As they move through the city, one of the bolts of lightning strikes a building nearby, alerting the group of it’s possible danger. Moving on they come across large holes in the ground. As they peer through they see a large body of water roughly 400-500 ft below them. All of a sudden the ground begins to shake, causing Ser Nedir to fall prone and Elder Storm slips and starts falling through the hole. Toph tries to assist by molding earth, but realizes she’s just making things worse. Liam, whose able to keep a steady footing, manages to grab Elder Storm and pull him back to safety.
Continuing their journey, the Dickbags spot a halfling talking with an imp. Curious about the situation, they move closer and see the imp holding a contract out to the halfling. Listening in to the conversation, the Dickbags realize that the imp is offering 30 days of food and water to the halfling and their family so long as the man agrees to giving up his soul. Noticing that the man is about to sign the contract, Elder Storm steps in. Advocating as the halfling’s lawyer, Storm reviews the contract and points out that there is no guarantee WHEN the halfling will get the food nor any details regarding what will happen to his soul after the 30 days. Storm also notices additional text/verbage that seems excessive for the deal, but he can’t make out exactly what it means. The halfling begins showing hesitation and the imp eventually gives up and leaves. The group provide what rations/water they can provide to tide the man and his family over for a few days.
The Dickbags continue their journey and come across a large chasm, separating the east/west sides of Elturel. They spot a bridge nearby that appears to have 6 fiends stationed in the middle of it. As they approach the bridge they notice several runes engraved along it. Ser Nedir recognizes them as symbols to Torm. The group tries to quietly sneak up to the nearest rune, but are spotted just as they approach. Liam and Elder Storm do what they can to distract the fiends while Ser Nedir figures out the prayer needed to active the runes. He is soon able to do so and the fiends on the bridge immediately begin to writhe in pain, one of them even explodes. They make short work of the remaining fiends and continue crossing the bridge. As they are crossing, they realize they are not gaining much ground. Lulu informs them that distances in Avernus are not constant. You can travel from one point to another and it only be a mile, but the same route back may be six miles. The Dickbags continue and eventually reach the western side of the bridge.