Monday, January 22, 653 AU

• In the morning, Vestan arrives to Aurelia’s house for morning coffee before he leaves for the Shining Citadel—Valya leaves out a window, but forgets her (or, rather, Marenora’s) hat. They talk more about the Order of the Radiant Dawn’s interest in her. Not many clerics reach Aurelia’s level of skill at such a young age. The order is concerned that Aurelia has been spending too much time on the road in strange company, and they’d prefer she train with other clerics of Soleil in a temple.
• Vestan also tells Aurelia that there are rumors of undead stirring in the city, and promises to write to her with updates. They argue briefly over Vestan’s having brought up Laelyn, and tell each other to take care. Vestan takes his leave.
• The Dawnbringers convene at a tavern, where Aurelia returns Valya’s hat. While they discuss what to do next, Quiet Marble arrives, having taken a tour of Crystalport. He’s impressed with its size but disturbed by its squalor. Aurelia tries to explain the prohibition on magic weapons, but Quiet Marble finds the idea of concealing Stinging Nettle offensive. He refers to Castalia as a “barbarian” land, but asks to accompany the party on their journey west.
• Before they leave, Valya visits Utaz to ask if he can give her the one nothic eye potion she has, and Utaz promises to teach Valya how to brew it. The only other difficult ingredient is displacer beast fangs, which cost 50 gp each. Utaz also mentions that he’s contacted colleagues to see if anyone knows where to find more nothics.
• Meanwhile, Aurelia casts scry on Lucan again. It works, and Aurelia sees the interior of an upscale inn, with stone walls and fine wood furniture. Lucan is sitting at a desk, writing what appears to be a diary entry:

… daggers from Myrsalon were close, but not quite. Checking the Shining Citadel today. I dearly hope we can save him, considering his importance to our quest. The perfect pawn—I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before…

• They board the train, planning to stop in Mythford to find Zephyr Astralix, the dream interpreter recommended by Gertrude Crow. Past Hart’s Crossing they enter the Great Plain of Castalia, which is intensively farmed as far as the eye can see. They pass innumerable snow-covered villages and towns, but after a few hours they come to Mythford. Mythford is a tall city of towers, most of the buildings being six or seven stories tall, connected by many sky-bridges.
• They find several street performers in a large square, and ask a juggler if he knows Zephyr Astralix. The juggler makes a face, saying Zephyr has been banned from this square for being a liar and a swindler. Bill pays the juggler 1 gp, and the juggler tells them that if Zephyr is performing, he’s probably doing it in the lower city, possibly at the docks by the river. He’s middle-aged and wears an awful hat, the juggler helpfully supplies.
• They make their way to the docks, and after searching around for a while, they see a magician passing flames back and forth between his hands, wearing a floppy green bard’s hat. He’s in his fifties, perhaps, and has a long salt-and-pepper beard. Bill approaches, but the moment the man sees him—and the rest of the part behind him—he tells the audience they’ve been lovely but he must be going. He snaps his fingers and disappears from sight. Aurelia casts see invisibility and, sure enough, the man is running through the crowd, looking back in fear as Aurelia runs after him.
• The man turns into an alley, and Bill hears shuffling from behind a door. Valya breaks down the door, and they find him attempting to hide behind a wardrobe. Aurelia greets him and, realizing he’s trapped, asks what he did to bring the Dawnbringers down on him.
• They assure him they only want to ask him to interpret a dream, and he becomes visible again, clearly pleased. Valya tries to read his mind, but detects no thoughts—she notes that he is wearing many rings on his fingers, any of which might be magical.
• Zephyr Astralix introduces himself as a connoisseur of ancient lore—old books, ruins, secrets, and so on. He doesn’t stay in one place for long. (“Because you’re a swindler?” asks Aurelia. “I am not a swindler, I am a magician. If a few coins vanish from their pockets, why, that’s just part of the show. ‘How did he do it?’ they wonder. It’s a bit of entertaining mystery.”)
• He offers to interpret Bill’s dream for 7 gp, instead of his usual 10 gp. Bill explains: “I was following William across the desert, and each time I crossed a dune William was further away. He was heading toward a tower, but then something flying knocked me over from behind, whispered ‘seek me’ in my ear, and then bit the back of my head.”
• Zephyr asks Bill to describe the tower in more detail, and Bill also explains the fortune Gertrude read for him the previous day. Zephyr asks Bill exactly how many dunes he had crossed in the dream, insisting it has great numerological significance, but Bill can’t remember—Zephyr says if he can’t remember, then there isn’t much to be gleaned from the dream. “Not all dreams mean something, I’m sorry to say.”
• It’s clear to Aurelia that Zephyr is trying to act like the dream means nothing, but he’s secretly excited. She calls him out on it, and eventually Zephyr breaks down and admits that the dream is important, but asks that they swear to the gods that “he can share in the spoils”. Zephyr says there is a small desert in the mountains north of Kharst. There is a tower there—no one knows who built it, or how old it is, and no one who enters the tower ever comes back alive. A winged lion is rumored to guard the tower. Zephyr believes Bill’s dream was not a dream at all, but a vision sent to him by some entity, possibly the winged lion itself. “After who knows how long—decades, centuries—of people being killed for entering this place, now someone gets a message asking them to come there? That treasure is finally ripe for the taking, and I intend to get my share of it!”
• Zephyr says he has spent his life wandering and learning, and knows deep secrets about all sorts of things. He insists that when they head to the tower, they bring him with them. Valya agrees, on the condition that he remove his ring of mind shielding during the trip. (“How did you—you tried to read my mind!”)
• As a show of goodwill, he tells the party something they don’t know. The demons who killed Caranthiax and clashed with Bellaroth are now working with Bellaroth. Zephyr has spoken with Jannalor’s ghost, and learned that the ancient dwarven ruins on which Caranthiax built her lair, called Barthanox by the dwarves, were themselves built on an ancient, holy site—a temple to Glaeth, the god of crossings, travel, and openings, and long since dead or departed from our world. “The demons want to open up a permanent portal to the abyss, and they happen to be doing this in the temple of a god of portals. I wonder what that’s all about, don’t you?”
• Finally, he tells the party he’s been to Ghelroth’Far—at least, he’s been on a boat above the ruins. All that stands above the water is a lone tower, the rest being a mile down on the seafloor. The sea there is perpetually stormy and patrolled by sharks and worse. Under the water, the tower is encrusted in coral.
• He heads back up the stairs. Valya apologizes for breaking down his door. “Oh, this isn’t my house,” he says as he leaves.

⁂

• There’s nothing left to do in Mythford, so they head back to the train station. Aurelia asks Qhask: “You have business in the Shining Citadel too, right Qhask?” Qhask replies: “Yes, I need to speak to the Royal Court.” Aurelia: “Huh? Why?” Qhask: “I can’t talk about that.” Valya: “Why not?” Qhask: “Orders from Caranthiax.”
• Aurelia takes a detour to the jeweler’s quarter, saying she needs to buy another diamond. Valya mentions how expensive the clothes she bought for Aurelia are, and Aurelia is shocked to learn they cost as much as a diamond. They have a short argument about priorities, and Valya urges Aurelia not to sell the clothes for diamonds. Quiet Marble leans toward Bill and whispers “I side with Valya. The dead are dead, it is a waste to bring them back.” Aurelia buys one 300 gp diamond.

⁂

• One train ride later, they find themselves in Hearthollow. The entire city is built into the walls of a valley, and five stone pillars stretch across the rim of the valley to support a large castle floating above the center of the city, hundreds of feet in the air. Quiet Marble says he prefers to explore alone, and takes his leave of the party.
• They find the Virren family forge by asking a guard—the Virrens supply the Hearthollow town guard with their arms and armor. An apprentice suggests they talk to Cara Virren, who currently runs the forge. Cara Virren is busy working at an anvil, but says they can meet her in the evening at the Tiger Garden, a nearby tavern.
• Aurelia brings up the possibility of casting speak with dead if Siora Virren’s corpse is still around, though she’s reluctant to use that kind of necromantic magic.
• That evening, they met Cara at the Tiger Garden. Valya learns from the bartender that Cara follows the various adventuring groups in the papers, and that she’s really like to get her hands on the mage-slayer sword—too bad Thaldohr is trapped in the Shadowfell!
• Cara explains to the party that whatever Siora used to produce her masterwork weapons, she never passed on the secret. There are rumors that she imported them from the Gemra Empire and passed them off as her own, rumors that she was favored by Rhoklo and created them under divine inspiration, rumors that she sold her soul to a devil, and so on.
• Many adventurers and detectives, even the Runebreakers, have questioned Cara about Siora, and she doesn’t know anything the party doesn’t. The Dawnbringers are welcome to explore the Virren Estate the following morning, but she doesn’t expect them to find anything new.
• Cara explains that Siora’s parents died tragically in an accident, and that a year later her son, Thian, was killed in battle with undead. She threw herself into her work to cope, and produced her first masterwork weapons soon after. Then, one morning, she was found dead on the floor of her bedroom. There was no sign of a struggle or any injuries—it was assumed she had a stroke. Curiously, though, her bed was not slept in that night.

⁂

• They get two adjacent rooms at the Tiger Garden. Aurelia and Qhask, sharing a room, discuss how trustworthy Valya is. Qhask doesn’t think Valya would betray them intentionally, and notes that if they didn’t have Valya in the party, they’d have died several times over.
• During Qhask’s watch, a death slaad suddenly teleports into the room and immediately begins attacking him. The battle is chaotic, with the party split between two different rooms, and the death slaad casts cloudkill, forcing Aurelia and Qhask to exit out the window.
• The death slaad is extremely tough and constantly regenerates, but thanks to Qhask’s wand of binding, they’re able to paralyze it long enough to kill it. They suspect it was sent by Marenora, and sure enough Qhask gets a sending soon after: “That was so naughty of you! Please try to follow the rules. Next time I’ll send something that can’t be so easily incapacitated!” Qhask replies “Fuck you!”

Tuesday, January 23, 653 AU

• They arrive at the ancient Virren Estate in the morning, and are given free reign to explore. It takes them a while, but they find a few clues.
• Aurelia casts detect magic in Siora Virren’s bedroom and finds that Siora Virren’s glasses are enchanted, but Cara Virren says they merely enlarge text. Cara is also wearing a locket that gives off abjuration and conjuration magic—Cara is not aware that her locket is magical. Valya casts identify and determines that it provides resistance to fire damage.
• Also in Siora’s bedroom, on the floor where her body was found, is a burn mark that looks suspiciously like a partial hand print.
• They find a secret door hidden in a bookcase, which leads to Siora’s office, where Cara is waiting. The secret passage is well-known—Siora congratulates them on finding it quickly, but says it’s well-known.
• Valya asks Cara about the crypts—they also have been searched countless times, and nothing has been found. When Valya asks about Siora’s son’s tomb, Cara says he was killed in the Shining Citadel, and his tomb is there, not here.
• Cara also mentions that a dark elf calling himself Cal Aerendir asked to search through Siora’s correspondence just a few weeks ago. Valya is shocked—Cal is a scholar and friend of his family! Cara says Cal mentioned he was “trying to keep Siora’s weapons from falling into the wrong hands.” Cara mentions that Siora’s diary, if she even kept one, has never been found.
• They search the basement, and uncover a secret door in the larder which leads to a small room lined with fire bricks. Cara isn’t sure what the room was for—perhaps the servants built a fire in here for keeping food warm? But Cara says the Runebreakers pointed out that there are no scorch marks on the floor or signs of smoke on the ceiling.
• Stumped, Aurelia heads outside to the gardens and casts commune.
  • Is Siora Virren’s infernal forge connected to the grounds of her family estate? NO.
  • Is there information in her family estate that would lead to us finding the forge? YES.
  • Is that information in a room that we’ve already explored? YES.
• They decide to more carefully inspect Cara’s locket. There’s a small latch to open the locket, which proves to be empty. Cara says it once contained a portrait of Thian, Siora’s son, but that it had long since crumbled to nothing. Bill decides to look at the locket using Siora’s enchanted glasses, and discovers there are words engraved inside! It says “revelare infernalem fornacem”, some phrase in Old Castalian. Bill reads the words out loud, and suddenly a swirling portal appears in the air beside him, radiating an intense heat. Bill drops the locket, and the portal closes. “She must have built that room in the basement for opening it,” says Valya. Aurelia casts healing word on Cara to heal the burns she suffered from the portal.

⁂

• They head down to the fire brick room. Valya wears the locket to protect her from the heat, activates the portal, and enters it. She finds herself not in a building, but a landscape—the air shimmers with intense heat, there are volcanoes and lava flows, and in the distance she can see a flock of small creatures, possibly imps. Floating in the air directly above her, hundreds of feet in the air and tethered to the ground by several immense chains, is some sort of stone fortress.
• Valya returns through the portal and explains what she saw to the rest of the party. They debate what to do. Valya returns through the portal and uses the last incense cone to summon her smoke mephit, telling him to explore the fortress above. The mephit departs, and returns forty-five minutes later. The smoke mephit reports that the fortress is elaborately carved, full of tunnels and passages, and that there are many devils patrolling it. He overheard some conversation—this is the fortress of the archdevil Ilvoth, and there is an infernal forge somewhere in the fortress. There are humanoid souls being tortured all throughout the fortress, including one overlooking the forge—a female, chained up facing the forge. Valya urges the mephit to return to that soul and ask if she’s Siora Virren—the mephit returns just in time to confirm that she is indeed, and then vanishes in a puff of smoke.
• Valya returns to the party, and they tell Cara what they’ve discovered. Cara is horrified to learn that Siora Virren is being eternally tortured in the hells.
• Aurelia sends to Valspira, asking her to meet them in Hearthollow immediately. Valspira arrives, and warns the party not to mess with Ilvoth, who commands two hundred thousand souls. Ilvoth is “a bit angry” at Valspira, but she refuses to explain why. She vacillates a bit, then decides to help the party infiltrate. She asks her contacts and determines that Ilvoth is at a negotiation and won’t return to his fortress for nineteen hours. Valspira gives them a boon of fire resistance, which will last for twenty-four hours, and gives them a scroll of seeming so they can look like devils.

⁂

• They all enter through the portal. They can hear, faintly, from far above, the booming of the giant hammers of the forge and the screaming of the damned souls.
• Bill and Qhask climb a chain, while Bill carries Aurelia and Valya uses gaseous form. While they are climbing, a group of imps and spined devils fly out of the fortress to attack them. It’s a difficult fight, since they have to keep their balance on the chain and Valya can’t drop her gaseous form without dropping, but eventually they make it to the top of the chain, where they find a long dark tunnel bored into the stone.
• They cast seeming to look like spined devils, and enter the tunnel. Unfortunately the tunnel is filled with magical darkness, so none of them can see aside from Qhask, who has ten-foot blindsight. As they move down the tunnel, they encounter a disturbing creature sniffing down the tunnel. It goes around them, but its misshapen wings brush against the party, which are cold and slimy.
• A minute later they encounter a bone devil. “Why have you left your post? Your shift does not end for another eleven days.” Thinking quickly, Qhask replies “We came to alert you that there were intruders—we chased them away but they are still out there.” The bone devil tells them to return to their posts while he informs his superiors.
• They take a different tunnel and find a spiral staircase. The magical darkness is no longer present, allowing them to see many humanoids impaled on the wall of this spiral staircase with iron spikes. They can hear whimpering and moaning echoing all around them. Steeling themselves, they ascend, and find themselves in a large open space. The spiral staircase is in the middle of the floor. There are six doors out of this room. The room is held up by four giant pillars, which are made out of barbed wire and humanoid bodies, twitching and groaning.
• Aurelia casts comprehend languages and reads the infernal writing above each door. They say “torture”, “throne”, “pleasure”, “war”, “void”, and “peace”.
• A pair of devils—an erinyes and a horned devil—emerge from the door labeled “war”. The Dawnbringers manage to hide behind the pillars. Aurelia, who still has comprehend languages up, manages to understand their conversation. The erinyes appears to be working for Ilvoth, entertaining the horned devil, who is a guest. The horned devil is complaining that the demons are opening a portal, and that the devils need to get there first. “The material plane is where all the action is going to happen. We need to be there, in large numbers. You remember what happened to Dicora—a whole plane’s worth of souls, dried up. We can’t let that happen here, too.” They head through the door labeled “throne”. The party assumes the portal they’re talking about is the one in Caranthiax’s lair.
• They head to the door labeled “war”, assuming it’s relatively empty now, and find a tunnel ending in another spiral staircase, leading up into the darkness… ❦