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The Erinyes looks down at Ridley scornfully smirking at him. "You speaking to me, peasant? What could a human possibly know about the scholar Számok that I don't already know?"
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Dioneo chimes in, a confident grin on his face. His hair begin to shift into a slow burning fire for a moment, showing his outsider belonging.
"Good day, Arenthea, seeker of Tomes and Secrets. My name is Baron Dioneo the Second of House Starnon in Westcrown."
Dioneo stops, and looks around them, feigning disinterest for the place.
"Our group seek secrets as well."
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Arenthea smirks, her eyes flash, addressing Dioneo. ”And what secrets would mortal peasants know that might interest me? Seeking secrets is commonplace...finding them is the key...“
She grates her teeth before continuing, ”...and you still haven’t told me your interest in Leventi. Stop...wasting...my time...”
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Dioneo doesn't flinch and grins wider. He points at the tome Arenthea is currently reading.
"Well, it seems to me that you have a particular interest in the mortal realm, scholars and secrets."
The Baron marks a pause, looking deep in the erynies' eyes. He raises his head, putting a lock flaming hair behind his ear. As he does, he begins to glow soflty.
"We are interested in informations about this devil's latest actions around here."
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The Erinyes gives a warm smile to Dioneo. "Ah, you are a charmer, yes...I think you are...I had thought I might get a dark bargain from you, but you certainly are a sweet little morsel aren't you? I might be persuaded to give you some...information...about Leventi...but first, I must know your intent. Do you wish to hinder...or harm...Leventi in any way?" She licks her lips in anticipation of your answer...
The clatter interrupts her levity, as Arenthea frowns, shaking her head to Sorrow. "You had best be most careful here, peasant...they have a strict, 'If you break it, you buy it policy' and I doubt you can afford it..."
Looking to Edgar, both eyebrows rise at his words. The Erinyes nods, saying, "Indeed, now you're speaking my language...my information is not free...but if Dark Bargains do not appeal to you, I can do trade in secrets...or scrolls and spellbooks and such. What have you to offer me?"
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Smiling, Edgar opens his mouth to speak.."I..uh..."
Closing his mouth, he tries again "Well, ya see...Aroden is dead."
His cheeks going crimson, "Sorry...I just got, well flustered. I really didn't expect...sorry. I promise, I really am quite well read about such things but my mind seems to be remiss at the moment..."
"Out of curiosity, what would the terms of said infernal deal be?"
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Arenthea scowls at Edgar’s reply...but smiles slyly when he inquired about a deal. ”Oh nothing much, dearie...your power perhaps...or your fate,” she purrs...
Upon hearing Jack’s response, her eyes go wide. ”On second thought, forget infernal deals. That piece of juicy news...I had not heard...tell me a bit more, and we have an accord...
“But before I say anything, I ask for the last time. What is your intent with regards to Leventi?”
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The Erinyes grins. "Of course your intent matters for my aid; if you seek a soul from him, good luck with that, he'll not part with it willingly...
"I would assume you require leverage over him, so your intent would be to gather information to use against Leventi. But I also assumed since you came looking for me, you would already know of my disposition towards the devil in question...yet you bandy words with me so obviously you do not...but this makes it more...delicious," she says as she licks her lips. But her eyes flash dangerously when she asks, "So which is it? Make me ask again and I'll speak to you no more..."
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Our contact has promised us the soul we seek should we succeed in getting Levinti deposed. So, yes, I guess our current stance is Ill intent. I cant promise anything, but if there were any tomes or other such things in his collection you'd like should we succeed, I would be happy to do what I can to see that they end up in your possession. Other than the soul we seek of course.
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Arenthea almost purrs. "That's lovely...had you told me that to begin with, we might not have had to bandy words for so long...
"I obtained relics of House Thrune for Leventi; I do that very well. That rat bastard twisted the language of the contract such that I didn't detect it when I signed; he invoked the punitive clause claiming I didn't supply enough relics within the time period stated, thus forfeiting payment," she grits her teeth before continuing, "...I was slightly upset..."
She shakes her head. "But that's beside the point. As your pretty boy over there has already told me a lucrative secret, I will give you what I have on Leventi...provided pretty-boy goes into a bit more detail afterwards. Here what I know, mortals..."
She goes on to spill the following information:
First, Leventi possesses the soul of Gellius Thrune, one of the founders of House Thrune from centuries ago. Leventi also owns Tholvinus, Gellius’s imp, but does a sloppy job of keeping the imp from wandering off. Tholvinus was recently captured and is now one of many prizes offered by the fighting pits of Widow’s Cry.
Second, Arenthea not only acquired Thrune relics for Leventi, she also performed several simple services that would have made it easier for someone to steal heirlooms outright. These and other events suggest that Leventi may have acquired some of his collection through reckless or unlawful means not befitting Hell’s standards.
Finally, she mentions that Ophelia Peran has occasionally worked as one of Leventi’s operatives, pointing the PCs to the night hag Yseldra for more information.
The Erinyes smiles wickedly afterwards. "I trust that was more than worth the secret?"
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Jack reached into his bag and pulled out his field journal, quickly flipping to the relevant section that they discussed. He stared at the page sadly before reluctantly just ripping it out of the journal, offering it to the erinyes. "At least it isn't my permanent copy that I just did that to. Those are the names of the known families who are actively working against her. One of them was egotistical enough to open up artifacts from a battle with a lich without checking if it was safe first... so not the most stable of people."
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Arenthea gives a sultry smile at Jack. "Thanks, pretty one...you have held up your party's end of the deal very well. It's a shame you're a mortal...you might not survive what I'd have in mind for you...ah well, begone peasants and remember...I never saw you, never told you anything, and you don't know me..."
Dismissing you with a flick of her hand, she turns back to her head examining...
You note the time, making your way quickly to the rendezvous spot with Zarta. You arrive a few minutes late to find her not there. But then you see her wave to you from a nearby bar with an outdoor drinking area.
As you approach her table, she flourishes a hand for you to sit. You notice your surroundings: The odor of seared blood permeates the choking, hot, smoky air. A low scream resonates from countless writhing bodies impaled on spikes atop the surrounding structures. Fiendish sigils adorn banners hanging from palace walls that stretch across city blocks, while a river of fire wends its way through canals below the nearby courtyard. Flights of imps patrol the bloody skies, while the winged figures of erinyes perch atop buildings, always watching. At the center of it all, a tower of impossible height stretches endlessly upward, its walls covered with gargoyles.
She smiles, sipping on a hot toddy and seemingly oblivious to it all, as you sit down. “Ah Hell…being away for five years wasn’t long enough. So tell me, my lovelies, what did you find out in the Market?"
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Sorrow casts silent image and projects a high-definitition 4K resolution replay of the days events so far from her perspective, representing speech with out-of-place cartoonish pop-up speech bubbles and giving commentary in similar fashion with a cute chibi-styled tiny rendition of her self in the corner of the image. She specifically focuses on the group's interactions with Artinean, Yseldra, and Arenthea; leaving out no particular detail in any aspect, though she does fast-forward through the boring travel parts. If any group member takes the lead in the what passes for 'conversation,' she will defer to them and instead alter her illusion to illustrate their points with replays of what they are talking about to buttress their facts.
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Jack winced at seeing his sacrifice, but ultimately shrugged it off. "Oh well. I'm slowly transitioning towards not going on adventures and being in perilous situations so much, so that'll be less of an issue than for others in this team."
Jumping ahead to their other main meeting, he shook his head at that interaction. "Adding to my adventuring log, erinyes apparently are thirsty."
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Zarta takes in the visual provided by Sorrow, arching an eyebrow when Jack makes a dark bargain with Arenthea, murmuring something about being all in...
She turns to you and says, "Most excellent. You have surpassed my expectations thus far; got verbal evidence from Arenthea, a soul from Yseldra, and a room from Artinean. That'll prove most beneficial as we'll be staying overnight; I've got two writs and permission to remain in Dis for two days...
"Sadly, the people I contacted in the library gave me the same locations to investigate as you; the Ghetto of Outcasts, which you already know the way there, and the Widow's Cry, with the fighting pits, which you do not...but I did get the location..."
Zarta then produces a letter, sealed with a halo of runes, seemingly out of thin air, saying, "I also received this missive from an imp. It asks to meet the norn Rowane in Eleusys...but first I think it we should check out the others for more evidence before talking with the norn...
"So now we need to decide where to search next. I was unable to fully peruse the Fallen Fastness, so there is more to discover there; Leventi's contracts and such. Or perhaps the Ghetto of Outcasts; this Teena Forester and the Hellknights seem to be tied to Leventi so much could be discovered there. Or the fighting pits of the Widow's Cry to chat up Leventi's imp, Tholvinus. So my ducklings, which do you prefer?"
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Jack offered the book up to anyone else that could benefit from it. "Widow's Cry should be tackled before we sleep for whatever passes as night here so we can heal up a bit after combat. All of my combat spells are basically cantrips, but I assume that others may need that break. Besides that, someone expressed interest in the library, but that should probably be after the pits or we'd risk someone needing to make a deal and being at a disadvantage in the fight."
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Zarta smiles. "Excellent! You try the fighting pits to see if you win Tholvinus...but be wary, they can be deadly. I will go back to the Fastness and see if I can get Jarlaxus to help with identifying and analyzing Leventi's contracts...
"Here is a writ...I'll carry the other one. You can present them if you're challenged by the authorities. Also, here are a few scrolls of sending, in case you need to contact me quickly. Good luck, my pretties!"
With the help of Jack's Blue Book of Dis, you make your way to the Widow's Cry. Upon arrival you see...
...a mountain of brass and iron blades rises on the outskirts of the city: this is the palace of Eiseth, the Erinyes Queen. Impaled bodies adorn the mountain, and screams of suffering echo for miles. A black cloud of erinyes circles above, while legions of devils train and clash in claustrophobic alleys and miles-wide plazas. Arenas line the fringes of Eiseth’s domain, and a steady flow of contenders rush to test themselves in the Queen of Night’s gladiatorial matches.
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Devils guard the passes deeper into Eiseth’s domain, barring passage. However, the outer arenas are abuzz with activity and offer a host of minor prizes to successful gladiators. Among these prizes is Tholvinus, the imp once bound to Gellius Thrune.
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Jack carefully eyed over the possible participants, before nodding in affirmation. "I think we can do this. I left my means of flying safely back home, so hopefully someone has a way to either ground those with flight or can get me in the air if needed. It probably doesn't come up very often for The Croc to use his expertise during one of our missions, so maybe we can get use this as a shopping trip without needing to lose gold or make more bargains."
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Jack gestured at the prize wall with a smile on his face. "Let's see how well we do in the first fight, but some of those things can easily help some future negotiations. I'd personally be interested in the soul gem to get out of here, but surely someone would be interested in the diamond if our words fail us."
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Looks like the matches are usually to the death, and the losers forfeit their bodies when they lose. If we want, we can try to arrange a non-lethal bout, but it requires some collateral.
Feel free to read the spoiler yourself for specifics.
Yea, lets see what the first match is like. Bet we can run the table though.
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Jack offered an indecisive shrug. "Tactically, makes sense to see what they are capable of, but we're likely not going to be facing off against those who were just in a fight themselves. Besides, hardly sporting to study opponents when they aren't allowed the same opportunity. I doubt that the head of the arena would allow that sort of thing. We are the practice jobbers; they likely would prefer if we aren't able to kill them."
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There is a match going on in the prime Arena, the one where Eiseth’s various champions fight all comers; it is in this arena where Tholvinus and other mentioned items are up for grabs...
The current match faces an odd party of three half-Orcs and three dwarves against Eiseth’s champions, a tall intimidating devil with a sharply wicked looking battle axe in hand and two Erinyes. At the start, the challengers raise blood curdling battle cries and charge at the devil with the axe, hoping to bring it down quickly...the Erinyes quickly take to the air, launching flaming arrows at the attackers. Just two make it through the fiery barrage and the axeman cleans them up with just a few swings, the axe cutting through them like wheat. The Erinyes then draw swords and mop up those that were licking their wounds from the initial arrow barrage. It was over before it started.
Eiseth bellows out, ”That was no challenge! Be there any here to give a worthy fight to my champions?”
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Jack grinned at being wrong and muttered to the rest of the party. "Been wrong before and will likely be wrong again."
He cheekily let out a loud laugh to call attention to the group and made his way that direction to not waste time. "Of course not. I can't speak to the worthy fight, but we will happily end your offered champions! Our champion," he gestured towards The Croc, "has seen fit to grace you all with his presence."