|
"I don't suppose we're sparing its life, are we?" Erlathan doesn't wait for an answer. He activates his quarterstaff and lets two missiles fly.
The spell fails, however. "Well, that's embarrassing. Go on, lightning sphere, get a little closer, please."
The ball rolls 30 feet, but can't quite reach the erinyes.
|
Nella quickly ponders what to do; she wasn't in much position to either end the devil or help Obtrivi without drawing the attention of Dispater. But then something does occur to her that might work - that she could conceivably explain away if need be. She draws out a vial of holy water and then takes a single step forward as she lobs it at the unconscious devil.
|
Nella sprinkles a little holy water on the unconscious she-devil, while Obtrivi quakes against the wall.
The erinyes's heart pumps her infernal blood in an expanding puddle upon the flagstones of the arena.
"Finish her, for Eiseth's sake, please!" The crowd of spectators demands a spectacular death to satisfy its bloodlust!
Obtrivi
Alexander
Cirri & Riddywhipple
---
Pink Erinyes
---
Nella
Erlathan
Alden
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Alden removes his gauntlet and the ring beneath it. He grabs onto Obtrivi's hands and not so gently shoves it onto his pinky..
"By Asmodeous Throne, get over your fear and smash that winged devil down. This I command!" he proclaims Imperiously.
"Regain your pride." he adds on though whatever expression may have being gleaned from his face is hidden by his helm's visor.
|
|
Alexander chuckles to himself as the dwarf finds his courage.
"Apparently it's never too late be a hero."
Turning his attention away from the devil and towards Cirri... with ire in his voice, "If your intent was to aid the enemy with your paltry and whimsical use of magic... then you succeeded wonderfully. How the Dark Lord every saw fit to grant an arcane gift upon you is beyond my understanding."
Turning to the crowd...Alexander shouts at the top of his voice, "Are you not entertained!?!"
|
|
In a blazing ball of intense lightning, Erlathan ends the life of the erinyes. Obtrivi fires up his chainsaw again and channels his inner psycho lumberjack, dismembering the fallen angel, limb from bloody limb.
The crowd erupts in cheers! "Hell of a fight! Now that's a battle! Wow, I wish Mom had come with us! Pass the popcorn and peanuts! Daddy, I want a chainsaw for my birthday! Please can I have one, please, oh please, oh please!"
---
"Well done, mortals," the erinyes Cerenthiel leads you over to the display of prizes. "Take your pick."
His sweeping arm encompasses the prizes: the imp Tholvinus, a +2 good outsider bane longsword, black feathered wings of flying, an onyx gem that contains a soul worth 2,500gp, and a diamond worth 10,000 gp.
"For defeating your foes without any of you falling unconscious," Cerenthiel congratulates you, "your infernal efficiency has earned you the opportunity to select two prizes!"
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"I'm inclined to agree about the wings," Erlathan rubs some magical dust off of his quarterstaff. "Imagine raining a fireball down on your foes while hovering forty feet! The pinnacle of magical might, you might say.."
Erlathan stares up at the crowds as he loses his train of thought to reverie; during which, of course, he imagines flying above the crowds, craftily tossing various elemental balls down at any devils brought forth. He muffles a low maniacal laughter before he snaps out of it, clearing his throat. "... I guess the imp is alright too."
|
|
"Maybe the gem with the soul..." Cirri realizes she's outvoted. Would have been nice to save more souls while we're down here... "The imp, definitely."
She looks to Erlathan. "Oh yeah, it's fun to do that. You just hurl magic from above while they fail to shoot you down. But hey, it's entertaining!" She giggles in Alexander's direction.
"Let's get that imp and get out of here."
|
|
The erinyes master of ceremonies hands over the black feathered wings of flying and the imp.
Gripping the bars of his locked cage, Tholvinus asks, "So, mortals, what do you lot want with a magnificent and underappreciated imp like me? I swear, by my lord and savior Asmodeus, I won't serve anyone as a so-called 'familiar'. I'd rather spend an eternity in this cage with a horny bone devil."
The imp's head swivels back and forth, nervous eyes scanning the crowd, looking for someone.
Meanwhile, Cerenthiel notices Cirri eyeing the soul-gem with longing.
The erinyes MC coughs and offers the magus an encouraging grin, "Say, you and your team want to stick around for another bout? There's a few unclaimed prizes left, as you can see. The rules don't limit you to just one death match. Who knows, you might even win two prizes again."
"You can't spell familiar without family. Well, almost. I guess that means I'm almost family!" Riddywhipple laughs upon Cirri's shoulder. "Cirri's not too bad, she lets me play pranks and scratches my belly when I claim to be sick. I mean, when I am sick."
"Tholvinus, are you listening? Or were you expecting someone else to rescue you? Alexandyr wasted 6 good arrows on you, you could at least explain what's going on."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cirri stares at the onyx gem and wonders who was stupid or unfortunate enough to be stuck there. There was the intellectual curiosities of soul gem, an awful spell. Georgina was so fascinated with the spell, always reading its theories, messing around with the forces of life and death. Watching that stupid Hellknight sign his soul away for money. Just money. It frightened her.
Without Riddywhipple to get her attention, Cirri is staring at the onyx gem for much too long before Cerenthiel catches her attention. "Wh-wh-what?" She snaps out of it. "Um... m-maybe later. We're on a tight schedule."
And I hate fighting for fighting's sake. Yuck.
|
|
"We have a mission to complete. The Dark Lord doesn't appreciate reckless spontaneity from his vassals."
Alexander half-bows to the Devil and addressing him in infernal, "Perhaps you should gather a new batch of mortals if you desire souls to feed upon..."
Alexander turns to Alden, "We had best leave before the our companions end up in the belly of a Pit Fiend."
|
|
Tholvinus is startled when Riddywhipple notices him looking for someone in the crowd.
The imp opens his mouth, about to speak, when the faerie dragon's companions reveal a little bit about themselves and their attitudes and intentions.
Having heard enough, it seems, Tholvinus settles down on the floor of his cage, head in his hands, dejected, resigned to whatever horrible fate Hell and his newest owners have in store for him.
|
|
Nella considers their options for a moment and then seems to reach a decision of her own. "Okay yeah, let's get in touch with Zarta first and then we can all be together when we question Tholvinus. That'll hopefully save us a little time on deciding our next move, depending on what he has to tell us."
|
|
You use another of the scrolls of sending, asking her to meet you the Warm Welcome.
Artylget extracts himself from the seductive embrace of a pair of imp ladies, and saunters over, peacocking self-assuredness in full bloom. "Market of Breaths, eh? Follow me."
---
About two hours later, you sit down at relatively quiet table in the bustling Warm Welcome. Zarta already seated, speaking in hushed tones to a gnome, who stands up as you take your seats.
"Artinean Tecbright, merchant and sole proprietor of The Warm Welcome. If your friends of the Paracountess, then you're welcome under my roof. We'll comp you room and board, don't you worry."
The gnome looks you over with unabashed curiosity. "Say, you don't have any victuals from back home on you, do you? I'll pay top coin to take it off your hands. Drink, too, if you've brought any." He holds up a hand. "Not interested in trail rations or conjured ale, mind you. Just the genuine, good stuff."
He pauses for a moment, hoping one of you actually does have something that would interest him, then he wanders away, resuming his coordination with efreeti titans of infernal industry.
Once Artinean is out of earshot, Zarta brings you up to speed on her end of the investigation. "I learned some more about the Hellknights’ story, enough background to request and study the associated contract in the Fallen Fastness."
"The human Devin Madras, a paladin of Iomedae and Hellknights Aurora Tesk, a tiefling, and Ria Dresk, a half-elf are fallen members of the Order of the Pike operated out of Fort Inevitable in the River Kingdoms and died during a bandit ambush in 4690AR. What they didn’t know was that their immediate superior, Staebius Kalmp, was a corrupt Hellknight who had made a terrible bargain with Leventi. When it became clear that Leventi would soon collect on his debt, Kalmp attempted to renegotiate."
"Under most circumstances, revising an infernal contract is inconceivable. However, Leventi allowed Kalmp to damn his four subordinates—Devin, Aurora, Ria, and the Hellknight Teena Forester—as though they were property in order to escape paying his part of the bargain. Leventi was willing to overlook the bizarre circumstances and assumptions of this new contract, believing four more souls worth the risk, especially if Kalmp continued to spread tyranny on the Material Plane (though he died two years later)."
"When the four arrived in the Boneyard, Leventi was ready to argue their case. He won on technicalities, whisking them to Hell and trapping them in the walls of Dis to ensure they couldn’t appeal the decision. However, after several years of imprisonment, Teena Forester bargained with Leventi to serve as his agent in return for the relative freedom of escaping the wall."
"Her companions consider Teena’s escape a betrayal of their camaraderie and a sign of weakness. Even after decades of imprisonment, Devin has tirelessly endeavored to keep up Aurora’s and Ria’s spirits, even as the wall slowly subsumes all three. However, Hell’s oppression has nearly broken him, too. The Hellknight and armingers are coherent but largely uninterested in conversation."
"I'm pretty sure they could help us, but we'd have to figure out a way to get them out of that damned wall, somehow, first."
Zarta narrows her gaze, regarding the imp in the cage. "Care to introduce me to your new 'friend'? And tell me, what did you learn at Widow's Cry?"
|
|
Cirri grips her staff tighter as Zarta explains the story. "I didn't get to free the soul in that stone, but I will save these three."
"We won this guy at the tournament, killing a couple more devils in the process." Cirri pipes up. "He was waiting for someone to meet him, but we got him instead."
She turns to the imp. "Tholvinus, you have something to say, don't you? It's a bit more quiet here."
|
|
"A Hellknight breaking trust amongst Comrades? Then this hellknight shall make it right and Teena Forester shall pay the price for forsaking her duties." Alden growls out quietly.
"The Imp we won fairly in combat. The imp can tell you more about his master or face the consequences. As for rescuing these falsely imprisoned souls, perhaps Teena Forester might be key."
|
|
Within his cage, Tholvinus shifts his weight from one foot to the other, glancing at the lock and eyes darting about the room, peering at the faces of those present, and looking toward the doors and windows. "You own me, it seems. But you don't own my allegiance. Of what interest are your affairs to me? Very little, in my opinion."