As things are developing in a couple tables I'm running, members of the parties are finding they basically like Cimri. I'm thinking of putting her into a little bit of a trap the party has to save her from later in the AP, specifically that Razelago or Fex have had her sign a contract to serve them. If the party wants to keep Cimri on their side (which she will want to do but feels she can't), they have to find a way to release her from the contract.
As additional flavor/context, I'm thinking Razelago will have tricked Cimri into believing (or allowing Cimri to incorrectly infer) this is an infernal contract involving her soul when, in fact, it's just a rather mundane contract.
As the general arc, I'm thinking the party can find a copy of the contract with the notary and, in reading it, find a loophole to get Cimri out of it. One party has an inquisitor and a priest of Asmodeus, so even if it is not infernal, I expect they'll insist on following the letter of the contract rather than just ignoring it, so describing an actual loophole will be important.
Any thoughts or suggestions on what that loophole might be?
If the contract isn't real then the party just needs to prove that it's fake.
As for a loophole, you could have it that the contract is binding until her soul travels to Hell. During The Inferno Gate all she has to do is walk through the portal and back then the contract is broken.
So I’m thinking it’s still a contract, but just a mundane, average contract, that Cimri has been allowed to believe somehow involves her soul, giving her a healthy dose of fear of Razelago/Fex and them additional influence over her.
Okay... That ritual in The Inferno Gate, have the contract be some sort of lie about her needing to make a temporary self-sacrifice for that ritual. The party can just show her the actual ritual instead and that she's been lied to. I just can't think of any other point that this side story would become relevant.