Author: Danny Cannon

After defeating the skeleton minotaurs and spectres outside the chapel, the Dickbags take a moment to collect themselves. Elder Storm casts a prayer of healing, allowing everyone to regain some much needed hit points. Liam peers in through the doors and notices 5 more skeleton minotaurs inside. Ser Nedir and Toph head down to a set of broken windows to get a closer look. Ser Nedir notices the minotaurs, but also happens to notice an elven looking individual making his way towards the doors that Liam is outside. Warning Liam of the approaching elf, Liam backs out of the way and out of sight.

The elven man opens the door and asks everyone to step forward and reveal themselves. Since he doesn’t appear to be showing any threatening behavior (despite having two small mezzoloth fiends with him), everyone steps out and introduces themselves. The man introduces himself as Gideon Lightward, the guardian/keeper of this chapel. He asks the group why they have come to this place. They explain that they are looking for Uldar Ravenguard and were told that he was heading here in search of some ancient relic. Gideon mentions that a group of individuals passed through recently and that Uldar Ravenguard might have been with him, but he doesn’t know. Before the conversation can continue much further, a weakened skeleton minotaur approaches Gideon and seems to communicate something though unheard by the Dickbags. Gideon informs the group that they are under attack by demons and that they can prove what side they’re on by helping him defeat them.

Gideon rushes into the chapel and the party quickly follows suit. Inside they find a group of dretches and a giant scorpion. Gideon, the mezzoloths, and the minotaurs begin attacking the dretches and scorpion. Unclear of who is one which side, the Dickbags join in on the attack. Liam lands an eldritch blast on the scorpion and Toph launches a ball of earth, heavily damaging the dretches and scorpion, but also hitting the mezzoloths and minotaurs in the process. The demons and scorpion are quickly dealt with. Once combat is over, Gideon quickly turns to the the group demanding an explanation. Liam tries to cover for Toph by acknowledging her blindness, but Gideon doesn’t appear to be convinced. Liam re-iterates their intents to find Uldar Ravenguard and that they have nothing against Gideon or his undead servants. Untrusting of the Dickbags, Gideon then turns on them.

Another battle ensues. Liam quickly finds himself the primary focus and is surrounded on three sides. Lulu informs Liam that she can assist, but that he’ll need to get out of the way. Once Liam is able to reposition, Lulu unleashes an incredibly loud “Trumpet of Sparkles” that devestates the fiends and Gideon with radiant energy. Gideon begins showing signs that he too is actually undead. After eliminating one of the mezzoloths, Elder Storm tries to give Gideon another chance to back down stating that they have no business with him. Gideon snarles at them and continues attacking. Elder Storm then sends a guiding bolt at Gideon that destroys him from the inside.

Feeling like they have a moment to breathe, the Dickbags look around. They find two panes of stained glass on the floor. One of them is still intact, depicting an image of Torm placing a golden helmet onto a kneeling follower. Ser Nedir recognizes this as the ‘Helm of Torm Sight’ and was known to be gifted to those that had a direct connection with Torm. The other pane of stained glass was broken, but the image could still be made out. It depicted Lathander with both hands raised above him as a group of fallen warriors rise around him. Given the context and position of the stained glass, Lulu mentions that people would pray at the nearby altar and sometimes be granted a blessing. Ser Nedir steps up and asks Lathander for help in spreading life and goodness to the land. A warm feeling comes of Nedir as a silvered long sword appears on top of the stained glass in the hands of Lathander. Ser Nedir picks up the sword and is amazed by its light weight and sturdiness. He thanks Lathander for his blessing.

The Dickbags head down a nearby flight of stairs, finding a preparation chamber that has recently been ransacked. Broken glass and embolming fluid cover the floor. Before continuing, the group decides to take a short rest on the stairs. Elder Storm casts another prayer of healing for the group (in case they get inturrepted during their short rest). After their rest, Toph and Elder Storm investigate the prep chamber and find a series of footprints. Several fiendish footprints appear to be heading towards the stairs, while a set of human footprints appear to be heading through the door on the far wall. Liam leads the way, checking doors for traps and listening for noises on the other side before opening. They make their way down some stairs and find a room with five altars. Most of the altars display figures that are now unrecognizeable due to fallen debris. The last altar displays a man kneeling and bares a striking reasemblance to the stained glass image of Torm.

Continuing on, Liam comes across a small room with several holy relics. A quick detect magic reveals the relics to be magical with some sort of necrotic energy. Liam steps out of the room and continues on. They eventually come across another large room with altars and a prayer room for priest to meditate and deal with the difficult nature of their work. Through the prayer room they find another set of stairs leading down to a set of doors. Liam uses his detect magic to sense something on the other side. As he tries to quietly open the door, he sees a man standing in a pool of water surrounded by bodies of fallen Elturel and Balder’s Gate soldiers. The man is crouched and clutching at a golden helm on his head, trying desparately to remove it.

Is this man Uldar Ravenguard? What happened in this room? And why is he struggling to remove the helmet?

Having discovered the entrance into the basement of High Hall, the Dickbags decide it would be best to rest before continuing onward. Elder Storm replaces the panel on the altar and the group heads back upstairs to the organ. They make camp in the tower that Trevik was hiding. Elder Storm magically creates some food and water for everyone. As they begin eating they notice that the food tastes very ashy and the water tastes of bile. Trevik informs them that this happened to all of the food when they arrived in Avernus. The food still provides sustainance, but tastes aweful. Liam takes a sip from his flask and notices that even the scotch has this bile taste to it. They power through the meal as best they can and get some rest. Ser Nedir begins hearing faint whispers in his head of an unknown language, but manages to ignore it enough to get some rest.

In the morning, Ser Nedir and Elder Storm perform ceremonies to bless a couple vials of holy water. They head downstairs and Ser Nedir heads back to the shrine that cursed him. He takes the vials of holy water and says a prayer to Torm and pours the holy water on the shrine. He continues this ritual, emptying a couple more vials of holy water, and is eventually able to not only purify the shrine but also end his afflicted curse. The Dickbags make their way back to the altar and head down. Liam quietly scouts ahead while the rest of the party hang back, only advancing when Liam motions that it’s safe to due so. Liam finds a large room with a table that sits about 40 people. There he sees 3 figures that have been eviscerated. He quickly checks the area for anything of use and moves on. Further down the hallway he notices approximately 100 people huddling and doing their best to hide. Hearing his approach, a voice calls out to him, asking him to reveal himself.

Liam notices a human woman, dressed in robes and trying her best to not look/sound scared. Liam steps out with his hands out in front to show her that he means no harm. Relieved that he’s not a fiend, the woman introduces herself as Pherra Jynks, the last of the Clergy. Upon learning that the Dickbags are looking for Uldar Ravenguard, she informs them that he left to head to the Great Cemetary on the west side of the city. He was looking for some ancient relic as well as dealing with the undead uprising going on there. During their discussion, Liam inquires about a couple of large fountains in the room. Pherra reveals that the fountains are filled with holy water and have been keeping congregation alive/hydrated. The Dickbags request to fill their vials/waterskins with the holy water and are allowed to do so. During this time, Elder Storm eyes a book that Pherra is clutching titled “Tome of the Creed Resolute”. Storm inquires about the book and learns that it is the sacred text that all citizens of Elturel are to swear by as soon as they are old enough to read. Upon swearing the oath, the person’s name magically appears in the book’s text. Liam and Elder Storm try to hint that the Creed may not be the “blessing” she believes it to be, but she is reluctant to accept the thought. Before leaving, Elder Storm provides the remaining food from their bounty the night before and creates more food and water (refilling the fountain they nearly emptied) for everyone there.

They make their way back to the entrance, stopping by to investigate a shrine to an unknown warrior. Not finding anything useful, the Dickbags head back to the surface/High Hall entrance. After discovering the courtyard is now clear, Trevik decides to remain and protect the citizens hiding in the basement. They part ways and the Dickbags make their way to the cemetary. As they get closer to the cemetary they notice several undead, standing around in various places, not moving nor showing interest in them. As they enter the cemetary, they make their way to the mausoleum located in it’s center. As they approach, they notice 3 minotaur skeletons holding massively large greataxes guarding the outside. Using the element of surprise, Toph launches a ball of earth and smashes it into all three minotaurs. Liam also tries to launch an eldritch blast at one of them and nearly hits Toph with both blasts (two Natural 1’s!). A battle ensues and the Dickbags are able to make short work of the undead minotaurs.

They approach the mausoleum for a closer look. Liam notices four more minotaur skeletons shuffling around inside. Meanwhile, Elder Storm takes notice of the pillars outside that are carved to resemble various heroes of Elturel, one of which is Agnathar. There is a faint purple glow about the pillars, but the group is unable to discern what it is. As Liam approaches the main doors, nearly a dozen wisps and shades apparate out from the pillars. Ser Nedir tries to control the situation by having the shield cast a wall of fire through most of the spectres/shades. Despite the success of this, the Dickbags soon found themselves flanked. As the shades attack Toph, Nedir, and Elder Storm they each find their strength draining from them. The battle continues, but the Dickbags find themselves victorious in the end.

Tired, weakened, and drained of many of their spells; the Dickbags must decide what they do next…

Coming Soon!

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.

Coming Soon!

After meeting up at the north-east gate and dividing their new loot, the Dickbags begin their 5-day trek to Candle Keep. Ser Nedir gives the guards at the gate their writ of passage from Commander Liara Porter and they are allowed to exit the city. As they make their way through the sea of refugees camped outside the city gates, they eventually make it to Little Calimshan where Falastar stops to pick up supplies from his residence.

While in Little Calimshan, Ser Nedir finds a local jeweler in hopes of acquiring platinum rings for the party. Feeling the Jeweler’s prices were a bit high, Elder Storm offers to share his epic tale of how he (and the group) managed to infultrate a cultist lair beneath a bath house and expose the Vanthamper family of their evil dealings with the cultists and demons. Although a little sketchy on some of the details, the Jeweler is still impressed and agrees to a discounted rate for the rings. Once the rings are fitted and handed out to the group, Ser Nedir explains that he needed them in order to provide everyone with some extra resistance, should things get dicey in a future encounter.

The Dickbags proceed southward along Coast Way towards Candle Keep. On the second day, they see a farmer heading northward pulling a wagon full of hay. Elder Storm greets the farmer and learns that he is heading towards Baldur’s Gate to deliver the hay to those who may need it. As the conversation continues, the farmer notices the shield that Ser Nedir is carrying. He inquires how he came to procure such an ornate shield and Ser Nedir informs him that he acquired it in Baldur’s Gate. As the farmer continues to prod about the shield, Ser Nedir grows suspicious and casts Divine Sense, picking up a fiendish presence from the farmer. The farmer asks if he could inspect the shield more closely. Ser Nedir and the farmer both get down from their horse/wagon and Ser Nedir allows the farmer to look at the shield, but from a distance. Ser Nedir inquires with the shield as to the nature of the farmer and the Hidden Lord indicates that he is “one of them” and that the individual seeks to reclaim him.

The Dickbags then hear a whistle coming from the farmer and find three men jump up from the hay, armed and ready to attack. Seeing the aggresive action being triggered by the farmer, Liam reacts by jumping off his horse and attacking the farmer. As he strikes with his bo there is a small crack of thunder and the farmer is left with an unusual aura around him. Toph follows suit and attacks the farmer with her Spice Flick, but finds the farmer is somehow resistant. The farmer then reveals himself to be a demon in disguise. He stares at Ser Nedir and commands him to hand over the shield and Ser Nedir finds himself unable to resist. The demon steps forward and as he does the mysterious aura releases another crack of thunder upon him. Determined, the demon takes the shield that Ser Nedir hands to him.

Not liking how things are playing out, Elder Storm conjures forth a storm cloud above them and uses it to call a bolt of lightning down upon the demon and one of the veterans. He hits both, but finds the demon seems to shrug off some of the damage (resistant to poison AND lightning?!). The battle continues until the Farmer looks at Ser Nedir once more and tells him to hold down Toph before flying away. Still under the demon’s charm, Ser Nedir proceeds to try and grapple Toph but is somehow unable to overpower her. As the demon flies off, Elder Storm pursues and casts a 3rd level Shatter (amplified with his Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath). A massive blast of thunder damage erupts, crippling the demon but it still manages to hang on. Liam then disengages from the two veterans that have him flanked and chases after the demon as well. As he runs, dark energy starts to coalesce arounds his hands and he launches two bolts of eldritch energy at the demon (WHAT?! Isn’t he a monk?). One of the bolts just barely manages to connect, finishing off the demon and causing it to fall to the ground.

Elder Storm retrieves the shield as Ser Nedir and Toph continue to endure the onslaught of the hired veterans. Ser Nedir, now free from the demon’s charm, is so furious that he lops the head off one of the veterans with his longsword. The two remaining veterans focus their attacks on Toph, who defends herself by casting Pebble in Water which blasts away Ser Nedir along with one of the veterans. Toph runs back to Falaster and jumps on the horse. the two ride away towards Elder Storm, leaving Ser Nedir to fend for himself. Ser Nedir holds firm,but inevitably gets overwhelmed and falls to the ground unconcious. Liam rushes over and revives him with a healing potion. Toph circles back and rejoins the fight along with Elder Storm and the Dickbags finish off the remaining veterans.

With a moment to breath and collect themselves, Ser Nedir takes a moment to cast Zone of Truth in order to get some honest answers out of his shield. The Hidden Lord is vague with his responses and dodges questions about his origins, but assures Ser Nedir that he will help the party by guiding them through Avernus in order to save Elturel. Toph takes the opportunity to ask Liam about the shadowy energy the group saw from him, but he just indicates it’s a long story.

The Dickbags continue their journey towards Candle Keep and finally arrive on the fifth day. When they arrive, they are greeted by two monks who inform them that they must provide a unique book (one they don’t already have in their archives) in order to gain entrance into the establishment. Falastar provides a cookbook of Calimshan recipes while Liam offers one of the spell books they found in the cultists lair. The group is allowed entry. Falastar leaves to report his findings while the Dickbags find the local tavern.

What will they learn from the mysterious puzzle box? Will Ser Nedir get more answers about his possessed shield? And what is going on with Liam and his new powers?

After completing their investigation of the Vanthamper estate, the Dickbags prepare to rest for the day at a nearby tavern. Liam takes a moment for himself and steps outside the room. He removes his handwraps, revealing a tattoo on his left forearm depicting a raven carrying a human heart. He passively speaks to the tattoo raven asking why he’s being kept alive and if it has something to do with someone/something named Fang or the devils they’ve been encountering. Fearing his luck may be running out, he asks if there’s anything else that can be done to help him out. After a few minutes, he notices a raven at the nearby window. When he approaches the raven he hears a voice tell him that he’s not dead because it is not yet his time. They go on to say that power can be granted, but at a price. The heart on his tattoo begins to bleed. Knowing the price, Liam accepts the boon (whatever it may be).

After finishing their long rest, the Dickbags decide to head straight for the Flaming Fist outpost to turn Thurstwell Vanthamper over to Captain Zodge. When they arrive at the outpost, they learn that Captain Zodge is investigating something in Upper City near the Vanthamper estate. After explaining that they have one of the Vanthampers with them for questioning in relation to what Captain Zodge is investigating, the guards send out a runner to retrieve the Captain. When he arrives the group relays their findings of the Vanthamper’s involvment with Thavius Krieg and the devils. They display the head of the devil jailor, the etchings from the obsidian shrine, and Thurstwell admits to his mother’s involvment with the devils.

Before they can discuss their payment, a woman barges through the door demanding to find Captain Zodge. She identifies herself as Liara Porter, Commander of the Flaming Fist, and that she’s here to take command. She pays the Dickbags for their service and they inform her that they plan to head to Candle Keep to pursue a lead regarding a puzzle box that may link Thavius Krieg to this whole devil conspiracy. Encouraging their efforts, Liara provides them with a letter that will allow them to safely exit Baldur’s Gate.

The Dickbags leave and decide to restock some supplies before they depart from the City. Elder Storm, Falastar, Liam, and Toph decide to head to upper city in search of diamonds and gear, while Ser Nedir tracks down a temple of Bahamut where he hopes to find more information about his possessed shield.

As the group heads to upper city, they manage to pass through the guard station with a little bribery (and a lot of awkwardness!). In upper city, they manage to come across three shops that sell magical items. “Baubles & Bits” owned by a strange gnome by the name of Olivia, “Venthir’s Vainglorious Vestments” owned by an elven man, and “Wondrous Procurements” owned by a dwarven man named Helmut.
The group peruses the items in each shop before deciding to purchase anything.

Meanwhile, Ser Nedir is unable to find a Temple of Bahamut, but manages to find a temple of Helm. He speaks with an elder priest who examines the shield. The Priest is unable to determine the shield’s origin/alignment. They discuss possibly dispeling the magic on the shield, which would release whatever being is trapped inside. Feeling that he wasn’t strong enough to control the powerful being, Ser Nedir votes against it for the safety everyone around. Nedir thanks the Priest for his help and proceeds to wait for the group near the East Gate.

Back with the group, the Dickbags decide to purchase some items from Wonderous Procurements. They trade in the Pipes of the Sewers (which nobody can use) and Elder Storm trades in his Javelin of Lightning with an extra 100g in order to acquire the Staff of Thunder & Lightning, Bracers of Defense, and the Goggles of Night. At Baubles & Bits, the group purchases the Insignia of Claws, Necklace of Prayer Beads, a Spell Gem (Bloodstone), 4 potions of healing, and 300g worth of diamonds. Lastly, they go to Venthir’s Vainglorious Vestments and purchase the Elven Chain for Toph.

Having completed their shopping, the group heads back to lower city and meets up with Ser Nedir at the East Gate to discuss the next stage of their journey.

After taking a short rest inside the Vanthamper vault, the Dickbags continue their investigation. Now looking for the puzzle box, held by Thurstwell Vanthamper, the group makes their way back to the main floor of the estate along with Falastar, Satir, Reya, and Thavius Krieg. Liam begins checking doors leading out of the kitchen, finding the pantry (where he snags a bag of flour), the servant’s quarters, and eventually the main entryway. Slobberchops (the winged house cat) seems to take a liking to Toph and begins following her around.

The group quietly makes their way upstairs where Liam spots an armored guard near the top of the staircase. Focusing his Ki, Liam casts a sphere of silence around them. The guard notices Liam coming up the stairs and a battle ensues. Due to the narrow stairwell, most of the group is unable to lend aid leaving the fight to Liam, Ser Nedir, and Elder Storm.

Unable to get to the top of the stairs, Toph gives some attention to Slobberchops, first petting him and then offering him some of her dried rations. The guards are eventually disposed of allowing the group to continue to the 2nd floor. Still within the silent sphere, Liam begins scouting through the various rooms. The first room appeared to be a powder room. Inside was a door to a bedroom which turned out to be that of Duke Thalamra Vanthamper. Inside the bedroom Liam finds a chest that he is able to open with one of the keys he acquired from the Duke. Inside he finds some ledgers (written in infernal), a set of caligraphers supplies, a coin purse made from sheep’s bladder, and a strange set of musical pipes. As Liam begins removing the items from the chest a hidden trap is set off, sending out a blast of poisonous gas. Liam manages to duck out of the way and avoid any damage. After allowing time for the gas to dissapate, Liam grabs the remaining items from the chest.

Returning to the main area, Liam continues to the next door which turns out to be Thurstwell’s room. They find Thurstwell sitting in the corner, unaware of their presence. Slobberchops walks near the party and begins lowly growling at something inside the room. Elder Storm gets Thurstwell’s attention and immediately met with a sacred flame attack from Thurstwell. Liam rushes into the room to find Thurstwell now cowering on the other side of his bed. As he moves through the room, Liam gets attacked by an imp that was previously invisible, but the attack misses. Liam continues towards Thurstwell and tries to attack, but finds that he is unable to do so (Thurstwell casted sanctuary!).

After making another attempt at attacking Liam is able to make contact with Thurstwell, delivering a weak front kick that still manages to cause Thurstwell to fall and hit his head. He lies unconcious on the floor. Elder Storm then enters the room and is able to stabalize Thurstwell, saving him from impending death.

Ser Nedir and Liam finish dispatching of the remaining imp in the room. Ser Nedir then uses his Lay on Hands to revive Thurstwell. They retrieve the puzzle box as well as acquire a few supplies from another chest that Thurstwell had in the room.

They soon hear Falastar (still outside the room) inquire where Reya and Thavius went. It seems they snuck out during the comotion! Focusing on the matters at hand, the Dickbags realize they still need to get out of the house safely. They decide to take Thurstwell with them by Ser Nedir throwing him over his shoulder. They make their way downstairs and head back out through the kitchen. When seen by the guards posted outside, Thurstwell instructs them to stand down. Elder Storm collects 4 steeds from some stables they have on the property and the group makes their way out without incident.

As the group makes their way to lower city, they drop off Satir at the gate/guard station and ask that one of them escort Satir back to their home. After the Dickbags present their signets of the Flaming Fist, the guards hesitantly agree asking that the Dickbags let them know the next time they are pursuing business in upper city.

The Dickbags continue into lower city and decide to rest at a nearby tavern before heading to see Captain Zodge. As they enter the tavern, they speak with the bartender about getting some rooms. When the bartender inquires about the man drapped over Ser Nedir’s shoulder, the group convinces him that he’s a friend that just had too much to drink (despite Thurstwell stating otherwise).

They all head upstairs to one of the rooms where they inspect the puzzle box. As Liam starts to attempt opening it, he is warned by Thurstwell that he may want to reconsider given the box is infernal in nature. Not wanting to push his luck more than they already have, Liam sets the box aside and instead takes a look at the 3 ledgers he acquired from the Duke’s bedroom. The ledgers contain the actual business dealings of the Vanthampers. Though written in infernal, the information contained actually appears to be legitimate and there is no connection with the Cult of the Dead 3 that Liam can find.

Meanwhile, Elder Storm examines the needle that he acquired from the Vanthamper vault. It appeared to resemble a tattoo needle. As he held it near his skin a magical tattoo began to appear, covering his chest and arms. The tattoo depicted moving tornadoes with lightning and forest fires (very tempest!).

What could this tattoo be and what will happen to Elder Storm now that he has it?

Still in the sewers beneath the Vanthamper estate, the Dickbags collect themselves after defeating the Jailor fiend. They immediately turn their attention to the two prisoners being held. The first is a human male who introduces himself as Falastar Fisk. He works for Sylvira Savokas at Candle Keep. Sylvira believes that Thavius Krieg has made a deal with devils and sent Falaster in search of a certain puzzle box that they believe holds the proof of Thavius’ alterier motives. In another cell, they find an elderly human female who introduces herself as Satir Thione-Hhune. She’s part of an aristocratic family and believes she was kidnapped as a form of blackmail to keep the Hhune family from opposing Thalamra Vanthamper stepping as the new Grand Duke.

With Falastar’s similar motives and Satir being a key witness to the Vanthamper’s dealings with devils, the Dickbags agree to let release them. For good measure, Ser Nedir removes the head of the Jailor fiend to take with them as additional proof. They make their way out of the jail. Uncertain of the direction Liam took, they follow the path that Toph sensed Amrik running along.

Meanwhile, Liam continues his pursuit of Amrik. Having checked the stairway they took to get into the basement, he’s certain that Amrik is still somewhere in the sewers. He resumes his route, retracing the steps they originally followed only this time he’s checking rooms that they initially passed before. The first room he checks ends up being for cold storage. With no sign of Amrik, Liam proceeds to the next room which has a set of double-doors across from the dining hall they checked previously. As Liam approaches the door, he can hear soft voices inside. Quietly opening the door he finds 4 cultists performing a ritual and a 6ft tall barbed devil staring straight at him. Liam quickly retreats and hides just inside the dining hall. The barbed devil rushes out of the room followed by the 4 cultists just as the rest of the Dickbags turn the corner. A battle begins. The barbed devil launches a flame at Ser Nedir who easily deflects the attack with his new shield. Liam downs his potion of fire breathing just before Nedir (who is unaware of Liam’s location) retaliates with a Fireball of his own. The massive explosion incinerates the 4 cultists and takes Liam down as well in the process. The Dickbags focus their fire on the remaining barbed devil. Toph lends her crossbow to Falaster while she holds Satir, who is determined to avoid combat at all costs due to her age.

After succeeding on one death saving throw, Liam rolls for another. ANOTHER NATURAL 20!! With a surprising cough/exhale of smoke, Liam regains consciousness with 1 hit point. He limps his way out of the dining hall and towards the continuing battle, being sure to stay as far away as possible. He unleashes a series of fire breaths, the last of which manages to ignite the fiend and burn it to ash.

The party regroups as Elder Storm casts a prayer of healing, giving everyone some much needed hitpoints. Believing the explosion of fire came from his potion, Liam warns the rest of the group about the potions of fire breath indicating the potions might be defective. After collecting themselves once again, the Dickbags head into the room that the devil/cultists came out of. In the room they find 9 tapestries depicting the 9 layers of hell as well as a 7ft tall statue of an angel with glowing eyes and holding a sword. The group inspects the statue more closely and (eventually) finds the source of the glowing eyes to be coming from a mace that is lodged inside. After a few failed attempts to remove the head of the statue carefully/cleanly, Ser Nedir gets flustered and pushes the statue over causing it to shatter. Toph grabs the mace which is still emitting the soft glowing light and puts it in her bag.

A moment later they hear a hidden door open nearby. They look to find Amrik standing in the doorway. Ser Nedir senses another presence inside the room and alerts the group. Toph casts mage armor on herself and rushes in. Inside she sees Amrik as well as Duke Thalamra Vanthamper herself! The Duke immediately attacks Toph with two eldritch blasts (she’s a warlock?!) and Amrik follows up with his dagger (dagger, dagger). Toph falls to the floor unconscious, but is soon revived by Ser Nedir’s Lay on Hands. The battle continues with both parties trading blows. Toph then casts Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp and twins it to ensare both Amrik and Thalamra. Though restrained, Thalamra manages to open a yet another secret door behind her, but is unable to escape. Amrik, on his last leg, does another series of attacks on Storm, Nedir, and Liam. Missing his first two attacks Amrik tries his last stab at Liam, but critically fails by stabbing his mother before hitting his head on the floor killing himself. Ser Nedir is then able to deliver the killing blow to Thalamra, cleaving her in half with his long sword.

Once they are able to look around the room they find a large obsidian shrine with flames that resemble the same fallen angel statue that they recently destroyed. Toph takes some of the Duke’s cloak and gets a rubbing of some of the infernal runes depicted on the shrine. Meanwhile, Liam takes a couple keys he finds on the Duke’s remains and learns that one of them opens the vault. With Amrik and the Duke now dead, Liam helps himself to the remaining platinum in the coffers. Ser Nedir informs Reya and Thavius Krieg that Amrik and the Duke are both dead and that they still need to find a puzzle box before they leave. At the mention of the box, Nedir notices that Thavius tenses up with uncertainty.

It seems there’s a lot more going on here than what meets the eye….