Descent Into Avernus
Fort Knucklebone
A fort. Shaped like a knuckleThrough either luck or good planning, everyone appeared to be staying mostly together and heading toward a landing spot of relative safety - far enough away from the fury of the Blood War to maybe go unnoticed…
…or maybe not.
Madam Portencia and Spider saw them first: a cluster of demons being led by a spined toad-like creature walking on two legs, which pointed toward the rapidly descending party. It coralled a group of dretches and shuddering pale-fleshed horrors and started rushing toward the landing zone - almost 20 demons in all.
They were too far away for a shot from the air, and everyone landed safely without stumbling - Madam Portencia even pulling off a perfect 3-point touchdown. The demons were still fifty feet away but bearing down fast. A quick decision was made to stay ahead of the pursuit and avoid any conflict.
As everyone ran South up a slight hillock, a swarm of Devils suddenly appeared over the top of the rise. A Bearded Devil led dozens of Spined Devils and several Merredon, and four Imps flew overhead. The hollered as they charged ‘For Zariel! Destroy the demon horde!!’ and were clearly intent on the demons - the party easily able to step to the side to avoid being the meat in the Blood War sandwich.
As the Devils passed the Bearded leader turned its head to the group and snarled something to one of the Imps, before the two forces smashed into each other, wailing and howling and intent on slaughter.
The Imp peeled off and floated over. “You are most curious! Who are you? You are not souls, you are humans, and dwarves, and things. Why are you here? Can we help you at all? "
“Don’t mind us, we are just passing through,” Torgrun anwered.
“We can help you! What do you need?” the Imp smiled winningly.
“We are passing through to a different place - how can we find you if we need you?”
“Oh, we can always find you. Where are you going? I can tell you where it is?”
“We don’t know where we’re going, but we’ll know when we get there.”
“We’re on a road to nowhere,” Madam Portencia added portenciously.
“It’s relatively cheap to find out directions. You don’t have to sign anything,” the Imp offered charmingly.
“Oh, no,” Morad muttered.
“Nothing right now,” Torgrun reinforced, “But thank you for your offer.”
The Imp lokked disappointed. “Who are you allied with?”
“Hail Zariel,” Madam Portencia said weakly.
“Almighty Zariel! Why did you pick her?”
“We are from above,” Torgrun explained, “And we come via the City,” he added, pointing up to Elturel.
“Oh yes, we are bring the city down - look even now it moves slightly!”
“And it has become apparent to us us where we should lay our…faith.”
“I see. Well, we will always help those who help Zariel. Just ask!” The Imp looked back to the melee, and saw that it was over. “Oop! Gotta go!”
The Devils had made short work of the Demons, leaving a pool of Demon ichor bubbling on the parched ground. Several of the Spined Devils were dipping their pitchforks into the pool, cackling with delight. The Imps seemed to be bottling the ichor, until a cry from the river Styx interrupted their work and they all charged away to the endless battle beyond.
“Do we know anything about demon ichor?” Madam Portencia asked.
“I would hazard a guess that it doesn’t help the demons you’re attacking,” Torgrun said, “But it may not be any good against the devils?”
“You really don’t want to get any on you,” Mak suggested.
“I’d say not, that’s a good call,” Madam Portencia agreed. As she studied the pool from afar, she noticed something. “Devil bodies? I thought Devils also turned into ichor in hell? They certainly did in Elturel.”
“They were being returned to here,” Torgrun suggested. “This is their plane.”
“I thought this was the only place you could kill a devil?” Madam Portencia pondered.
Morad nodded slowly. “I’m confused. But - they look dead, just not disintegrated. When we killed them above we thought they were gone, but maybe they were just coming back here. These ones being killed on this plane, they are actually dead and their bodies are left here.”
Togrun agreed, “I seem to remember reading something about that in Candlekeep.”
Madam Portencia made a small effort to search the dead Merredon, but realised it would require peeling its fused armour off like a prawn to find out what lay beneath. No thank you.
Elturel hung in the red sky above, massive infernal chains pulling it inexerorably down toward the River Styx. After a last glance back, Lulu led the way toward Fort Knucklebone.
The planes of Avernus reeked of brimstone and burning tar, hot gusts of wind shrieking across the hellscape and scouring the land. The sand and dryness stung the eyes, and breathing was difficult. Madam Portencia’s hand-fan got quite the work-out trying (and for the most part failing) to keep her cool. Mak and Bili looked the most uncomfortable, well out of their cold-mountainous climate. Only Morad looked at ease, unwrapped turban covering his nose and mouse, well practiced in dealing with the harsh heat.
Pools and rivers of lava cris-crossing the parched ground made the short journey slower than expected, but eventually the party mounted the top of a rubble-strewn hill.
A fortified compound sat atop a low plateau rising out of a crater-pocked landscape. At the centre of the compound was a hill of rust-coloured stone that resembled a hand clawing out of the ground: Fort Knucklebone was well named. A jagged wall made of rock, bones, and metal debris surrounded the fortress, and there seemed to be gaps between the ‘fingers’ of the stone hand.
Fort Knucklebone
“Even from afar that wall looks impregnable,” Morad said.
Madam Portencia asked to borrow Morad’s spyglass. “Quite. Night ompossible to breach, or even climb. Ouch. But there is a gatehouse, and there seem to be a half-dozen small figures up there. And there are some big machines inside the compound - with wheels. And there are things or people moving around in there too.”
“Right lads,” Spider said. “The person in charge of this place is called Mad Maggie.”
“How do you know?” Madam Portencia said immediately.
Spider ignored her. “And apparently the warlords are afraid of her, because she works for Zariel, and keeps ‘em in line.”
“I think what we successfully did back when we landed, was to pass ourselves off as belonging to one of the sides,” Torgrun said. “It will be important for us to maintain the secrecy of our quest.”
“I’m just suggesting that whoever this Mad Maggie turns out to be, then if Devil lords are afraid of her than we should be too.”
“Here’s the question. Why are the devils afraid of these guys locked up in their castle?” Madam Portencia asked.
“They’re not afraid of these guys. They’re afraid of her.”
“I suggest we don’t find that out,” Torgrun said.
“We’ve got to know what she wants,” Madam Portencia said.
“Lulu - what can you remember?” Torgrun asked.
“All I remember is the Kenku. It must have been after I was lost, maybe I came here for shelter. But they took me in, I remember that, and I remember them kindly,” Lulu said slowly, searching her scattered memories.
“Ok. So we are questing for Zariel, searching for the Kenku. Do we pass off our quest off as Zariel’s?”
“Under what auspices? Why would our quest be Zariel’s quest?” Madam Portencia asked skeptically.
“Because Zariel has called for Lulu.”
“Hm. But they might just take Lulu,” Madam Portencia considered, then shrugged. “So they take Lulu. We’ve got Lulu to offer.”
Lulu flew close to Torgrun. “The Madam is not serious?” she said, worried. “You wouldn’t give me over? I am your friend, you are my friends?”
“Never. You are more than my friend - you give us purpose here,” Togrun said firmly.
Spider wanted to get moving. “Why don’t we just see if we can get inside without any trouble?”
“I agree,” Morad said, stepping toward the fort.
“So we’re just going to walk up and say ‘can we come in’?” Madam Portencia asked.
“Well looking at the wall it’s probably better than getting caught sneaking in,” Spider said.
“I just thought we might need a bargaining position.”
“The bargain is we are working for Zariel,” Torgun said simply.
“I like that, as it’s non-specific. We might be questing on her behalf, or she may be our target,” Madam Portencia agreed.
“I think it’s a good opening gambit, we’ll know pretty soon,” Morad said. “So far the devils have been very amendable - they don’t even insist on deals.”
There was no way to approach without being seen, and it felt very vulnerable approaching over the open plane ahead. At about the half-way point, a rumble of something moving fast could be heard coming toward the fortress from the West.
Spider saw plumes of red dust from the same direction, and quickly hustled everyone behind an outcrop of massive boulders. From the horizon came a wheeled metal machine of some kind, barelling over the red sands at enormous speed. There didn’t seem to be anything pulling the machine, it was somehow self-propelled.
As it drew nearer everyone could see a thin, pale-skinned, imperious humanoid sat atop the vehicle. It seemed to be being driven by a ghastly creature, and other creatures were hanging off the vehicles spikes and sheets of metal. Two smaller escort vehicles drove alongside, these driven by what looked like undead ghouls. The convoy was travelling fast, roaring past billowing dust and sand. The gates of Fort Knucklebone drew open to allow the convoy to enter, before swinging closed again.
Spider was grinning like an idiot. He turned to Madam P and said simply, “I want one.”
“Fair enough! I’ve often wondered if it would be possible to make a self-propelled wagon.”
“Sam, was that her?”, Spider asked.
“No, that’s not her. That’s another Warlord. And you do want one of those vehicles.”
“Do we now?”
“Are you kidding? Did you see it? Fantastic! I’ve never been in one but I’d love to.”
Spider turned back to the party. “So that was another Warlord on top of that thing, apparently.”
“How do you know who Mad Maggie is,” Torgrun asked, it finally dawning on him that Spider seemed to know more than he should about this place.
“Sam’s been here before,” Spider said simply.
“Well perhaps you could tell us what he knows?” Torgrun said accusingly.
“He has been!”
“No - us.”
“Do you speak spider?”
“You’re keeping things from us!”
“No, I’m telling you stuff, I’m not keeping it from you.”
“There’s a difference between freely telling us things you know, and being…taciturn. You’re not telling us much. We are in a very dangerous situation and I suggest you lay it all out now.”
“The extra knowledge I know about I’ve just told you.”
“I’m sorry. Your spider has been here before. We’re stumbling around on a plane of Hell, and all he knows is that that wasn’t Mad Maggie?!” Torgrun said angrily. “I’m sure there’s much more information he could give us that would be very helpful.”
“Tell him I said be careful of pit fiends.”
Spider laughed. “He says, ‘be careful of pit fiends’.”
“That’s free - free information!”
“Spider,” Madam Portencia begun, “Does he know what this person wants?”
“Nope.”
Spider passed on the blunt message.
“Same as every other devil: power. Then again - she’s not a devil.”
“Spider - how we get in?” Morad asked.
“Sam - is there any other way to get in beside the gate?” Spider asked dutifully.
“Not that I know of. You could fly over. But I wouldn’t try it. This is probably the best defended fortress in Avernus.”
Spider repeated Sam’s advice.
“Is she likely to let us in, little guy?” Madam Portencia asked.
“She’ll let you in.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t ask for more information about why she’ll let us in?” Torgrun said wryly.
“Why would she let us in?” Spider asked. “Because we’re not a threat?”
“And fascinating.”
“Alright. That’s something,” Madam Portencia said. “Let’s try and stay interesting people. Let’s not divulge all our sercrets.”
“Course I don’t really know. She might just kill you - but I don’t think so.”
Spider kept that bit quiet.
“So the spider says we’re going to be fine - let’s go!” Torgrun said.
“The insect says we’re good, let’s go in, play it cool, lay all our cards on the table,” Madam Portencia agreed.
“I can’t see what can possibly go wrong with this plan,” Mak said.
“Well the worst thing that can happen is we get attacked by devils,” Spider shrugged. “So does that make it any different to any other place we’ve been?”
“That is true,” Mak agreed.
“We go. But we’re flying blind here,” Torgun said.
“Well we’re not totally blind,” Spider disagreed. “We know that was a Warlord, that she probably bends the knee to Maggie who’s inside, and Maggie’s the person that runs the fort. And she works for Zariel. That’s not blind.”
“That’s right. You just keep those channels open,” Torgrun laughed.
“He hasn’t been here for a while, and he gets lost too,” Spider said defensively.
“If your spider died, would he come to this plane?”
Spider paused. “I don’t know. That’s as truthful an answer as I can give: I don’t know what would happen.”
“You do, but good answer.”
The gatehouse was guarded over by a group of undersized gnome-like creatures, wizened with hunched backs and sinewy frames. All had heavy iron boots out of keeping with the rest of their apparel, other than the sharp-bladed weapons they wielded. Some wore pointed red-leather caps, and some wore caps that seemed to be made of flayed skin or dripping meat, oozing with blood and ichor.
Redcap Madcap
The redcaps and madcaps clambered over the guardhouse parapets, some hanging from rafters and some trying to push each other off. Their excitement was palpable, and slightly unsettling.
They stomped and jumped around with glee, a few flinging rocks that flew wide as the party cautiously approached, and one of the redcaps hollered out a welcome. “Visitors! Visitors! Come closer you fools, we can’t see you back there!”
“Fort Knucklebone welcomes you! What is it you want?”
Torgrun drew a deep breath. “We seek entrance.”
“You want to come inside? They want to come inside!” There was hooting at this news. “Who do you seek?”
“We quest,” Torgrun offered.
“Quest! Quest-quest-quest - we love quests!”
A madcap, jaws dripping, interrupted. “Wait! I thought of something!” The madcap turned to his companions with a sharp grin before facing the group again: “What is the password?!”
The other ‘caps burst into floods of laughter and clapping, chanting “Password! Password!” as they watched and waited for an answer.
“Sam - do you know?” Spider asked quietly.
“I have no idea.”
“If you tell us the password you can come straight in!”
“Don’t I have a spell for this,” Madam Portencia muttered.
“Didn’t we talk to a Devil,” Bili pondered, “Didn’t he say a particular word?”
“Oh hurry up!” one of the Redcaps cried, “What is the password?!”
“As we are questing,” Torgrun begun over the chanting, “We can only keep moving forward in the name of…Zariel?”
“Wrong! That’s not the password!”
Another redcap stepped forward. “Do you want to know a secret?”
Spider guessed: “There’s no password.”
“THERE’S NO PASSWORD!” The madcap pointed at Spider with delight as the creatures howled with laughter, rolling on the floor and hopping about madly, slapping each other in the head.
Spider grimaced and pointed at the gate.
“Oh. You want to come inside? But you didn’t give us the password?”
“Come on,” Spider said.
A madcap looked at Spider. “You’re quite small aren’t you. Like us! And you,” pointing a Mak, “Are very tall.” It feined thinking hard when another redcap pointed at Morad and yelled out, “You have a very nice hat! I know someone else with a hat like that.”
“Mahadi!” another called out.
“Yes! It reminds me of Mahadi’s hat. Mahadi is a very good dancer, so you must be too! We love dances - you dance for us!”
“Is Mahadi here?” Torgrun asked quickly.
“Nooooo, Mahadi doesn’t live here. Are you stupid?”
“Will you let me in if I dance,” Morad asked resignedly.
“Let you in! Dance! Dance! Dance!” they clapped joyously.
Morad sighed and did a few desultory steps, then stopped. “Let me in now.”
All of the ‘caps stopped clapping. “That’s not a dance. Do a Mahadi dance!”
Morad started coiling his whip.
The thinking madcap suddenly addressed Spider. “And while he dances, you stand on big-man’s shoulders. Balance.”
“Spider,” Madam Portencia smiled, “You’re never going to make it in the circus if you don’t debase yourself for the audience.”
Spider was flipping a shuriken through his fingers. Madam Portencia walked over to him and lowered his hand. “Just climb up on the giant like a little monkey and dance you fool!” she hissed.
Bili started dancing, much to the delight of the guards who whooped with delight.
Spider gritted his teeth, looked at Mak who nodded, and ran up the barbarian’s back as requested.
The ‘caps pointed to Spider. “You did it! You did it! He did it! Come in!”
The gates swung open.
“You dance for us later? Hat-man? Please? Or are you boring hat man! We kill you boring man now, not like Mahadi!” Morad’s madcap pleaded as he entered the compound.
Morad slowly coiled his whip back onto his waist, ignoring the taunting. As Spider climbed down he glanced at Morad. “I’m going to kill that one later.”
The ‘caps swarmed around the group, poking and prodding, talking amongst themselved. Torgrun made a show of ignoring them with a vengeance. He was no fool, unlike them. The more dwarvish looking redcaps were fascinated by Bili, and Bili sensed something of the fey about them, something vaguely familiar.
The courtyard was littered with trash, mechanical, metal, bones, and more. A vehicle similar to the one that had driven in earlier, but with parts removed, was being worked on by two birdlike creatures who were arguing and gesticulating. Spider’s eyes widened as he recongised Kenku.
On the southern edge, the conveyance that had driven in stood almost panting, waves of heat rising from it’s red-hot metal. In front of it the tall willowy person stood, almost translucent skin, milky-white eyes staring at you, holding a parasol made of bones and flesh. Madam Portencia waved her paper-fan in front of her face, joining this rare moment of decorum.
Warlord
Ghouls and Ghasts crawled over the machines, and detached crawling hands were working on various components. The Warlord locked her eyes on Bili and watched him closely. Bili looked confused.
Torgrun studiously ignored the Warlord, and moved toward the Kenku. Madam Portencia grabbed him before he could go far. “I think we had better observe correct protocol here - these guys don’t run this place,” she whispered.
Lulu whispered to Torgrun in response. “Those are Kenku!”
“Do you recongise them?”
“I recognise them as Kenku, but I don’t know if they’re mine.”
“You don’t know if they carry your memories. We must talk to them before we leave.”
“I don’t think we should talk to them while her nibs with the umbrella is here,” Spider said quietly.
From one of the finger-holes in the rocks, a floating skull emerged, grinning with a missing tooth. Green flames shot out from the bare cranium. It paused for a moment, then retreated back inside.
Madam Portencia leaned down to one of the madcaps. “Could you tell your mistress that we’re here?”
“Mistress? Who? I don’t have a mistress. Hahahaha!” They all started laughing.
Madam Portencia looked at Spider pleadingly. Morad gripped his swords - he was moments away from starting to kill.
“Mad Maggie. Is Mad Maggie around?” Spider asked, having to crouch.
“Mad Maggie! Maaaaaad Maggie!”
Spider sighed. “Well can you tell me this then - who’s the one with the umbrella?”
The ‘caps all crouched too, deadly serious suddenly. They shook their heads and whispered. “Be carefulllll, be careful of her!”
“Oh I’ll be careful. I just want to know what her name is.”
“You’ll have to ask.”
“What you don’t know who it is?”
“I’m not telling you who it is. She might hear. And if she hears - she’ll kill meeeee!” All of the ‘caps were being very careful not to look in the Warlord’s direction. It was incredibly obvious.
The Kenku looked up from their argument and noticed the party. The squawked at each other, picked up a slab of metal each, and started walking toward the party. One called out in a sing-song voice, “Well met, well met, well met!”
“Well met,” Morad replied instinctively.
The group moved forward to meet the Kenku, every moved watched by the Warlord. Spider noted this and hustled everyone behind the Kenku vehicle, hoping to break line-of-sight.
“Who are you here, who are you here?” One of the Kenku cheeped.
“We seek two Kenku,” Torgrun replied warily.
“We Kenku! We Kenku!”
Torgrun watched them carefully, noting that while they had seen Lulu, they didn’t react with instant recognition. “Do you know this one,” he said, pointing to Lulu.
“Stranger in a strange land, stranger,” the taller of the two replied.
Lulu fluttered between them. “Please, help me, you are my only hope, help me?”
The eyes of both Kenku shot open when Lulu said this. “Please help me! You are my hope! Please help me! You are my hope!” they said excitedly, and in almost the identical tone of voice to Lulu. It was clear they knew this phrase and could repeat it almost word-for-word.
One of the Kenku tentitively spoke to Lulu. “Love? Love?”
Lulu raised her trunk. “Yes - love! Love!”
The smaller Kenku nodded excitedly. “What a deal! Patience is a virtue! Can’t keep the boss waiting!”, and with that rushed off into the fingers where the skull had earlier emerged.
Torgrun turned to the other. “Have you her memories?”
The Kenku shook it’s head. “Memories, like water, no memories, no water. Voice! You’re the voice! Please help me, love.” it said to Lulu.
Lulu seemed to understand. “They know my voice, my words!” she cried. These might be different Kenku, but they must have known the ones I met, or they have passed my voice down.”
“Spider, do we know if the Kenku can transfer memories from others?” Torgrun asked.
“I don’t know. All I know is they can’t talk on their own, they can only repeat things they’ve heard. They’re like birds. I think it’s a curse.”
“A curse, of course, a curse,” the Kenku nodded.
“They can remember lots of things, but they can’t speak their own language. But it does mean that if someone told one of them something, they could say the same thing back to another one, and another one, and another one.”
“Is it words they can’t say, or ideas they can’t express?” Madam Portencia asked.
“They can’t have a conversation like this. Only with words they’ve heard from other people. They say things to get the point across, but it might not be what they actually mean - but it will be close.”
“I think they must have helped me, when I asked,” Lulu offered. “And I would have expressed my love. And they have passed that down.”
The Kenku suddenly perked up as it looked past the damaged machine. “Boss not waiting!”
Approaching from the knuckles was the Kenku, leading a tall hunched woman wearing a long, tattered shift covered in mud, blood, mould and worse. The hag’s ese seemed to move independently of each other as she approached, straggly brown hair hanging over them. Resting on each shoulder were two red-eyed ravens that scrutinised the group closely. Behind her, a hulking creature built of disparate fiendish parts trudged, moaning and hopping as it walked.
Mad Maggie & Mickey
“Mad Maggie” Samael whispered. Spider passed the knowledge on, quietly.
The other Warlord approached not far behind. Maggie stopped and slowly turned, wagging her finger at the fey figure. It tilted its head deferentially, before turning and walking away.
Torgrun bowed deeply, hands spread. Spider followed suit, Mak and Bili kneeled, and Madam Portencia curtsied.
Maggie didn’t respond, instead scanning each person slowly before stopping on Lulu. Without taking her eyes off the holyphant, she spoke in a creaking voice. “There’s no need for that. No need to scrape and crawl. My goodness though: where did you find that treasure?” she smiled.
“She is our purpose for being here,” Torgrun said, standing back up.
“And what is that purpose? Why are you with her, of all things? I am fascinated.”
“We quest, with her.”
“Where did you find her? I have been searching for her for many, many, years.”
“We think that she was destined to come back, to here. We think that what she has lost, can be found here. We come together.”
“And you want to find something?”
“We want to find what she had lost.”
Maggie shivered when she heard that. “I have longed to find her, and now here she is, delivered on a plate. Mickey, isn’t it a miracle?!” She rubbed a hand lustfully up and down the scarred leg of her companion. The creature - Mikey - gargled horribly through the tube attached to it face and stomach.
“Mickey, they have come to me! Finally the truth - come with me, inside!” She led Mickey back inside, not waiting to see if anyone obeyed.
Torgrun raised an eyebrow, then walked quickly to follow. “Has she told you her story?” Maggie asked.
“No,” Torgrun said.
“Can we get the story from her?”
“No,” Madam Portencia reinforced.
“Why not?”
“She doesn’t remember,” Torgrun said.
Maggie turned to Lulu. “How could you forget something like that? You were part of something so miraculous, and you’ve forgotten?”
“I’m scared,” Lulu said to Torgrun.
Torgrun nodded. “We have seen a vision of part of her story. We seek more,” Torgrun told Maggie.
“Oh yes, as do I, as do I,” she cackled.
Maggie led everyone inside the fortress, a huge room with several more of the vehicles. A large one like the Warlord conveyence, and a smaller one. Wheels were missing from the big one, and weapons from the other. The floating skull joined the procession as Maggie stepped up to a curtain covering the entrance to another room.
“This is what I am obsessed with,” she said, pulling aside the curtain. On the opposite wall hung the tattered remains of a huge tapestry. It had obviously been repaired and stitched together over time, with gaps and missing panels. But what was clear was what it depicted: the story of Zariel’s journey into Hell.
It was very stylised, but sections from Torm’s vision were clear. Zariel leading her forces into Hell, glowing angelically. The betrayal of the Hellriders, turning tail and leaving Zariel surrounded by Hell’s minions. Lulu was obvious in each scene, being ridden and fighting.
The next semi-complete panel was something new. Zariel was kneeling in front of a figure, in supplication. The figure was familiar, and suddenly it was clear: it was the imperial four-horned devil from the vision of Torm. He who had sought the sword. Nothing else remained in the tapestry, or not enough to tell more of the story.
“This is the story of Zariel. And there is your holyphant. But I have never been able to piece together the missing components. I have asked, but no-one in Avernus will talk of Zariel - she scares them, understandably. All I have is this. But if I can unlock this one’s memories, I can find out what this one saw, what she experienced. I can feed on that,” Maggie said, her claws digging into Mickey’s fleah. “And then I will be satisfied.”
Everyone nodded, horrified, but holding the story together.
“Our paths converge,” Torgrun started. “We seek this knowledge too. Not for the same reason perhaps.”
“Wonderful! So you agree, I can feed on these memories?”
“She doesn’t have them,” Madam Portencia said.
“They have been placed in the hands of others,” Torgrun reinfoced.
Maggie shook her head. “Oh no, they are in there,” she said pointing to Lulu’s head. “I can take them out, and if I do I will show them to you.”
“What happens to her when you do that?” Madam Portencia asked.
“She should survive. It depends how tightly locked they are, and how much you can help. Some die, but this one is strong.”
“Our path leads us to the Kenku,” Torgrun repeated.
“Oh the Kenku,” Maggie said, waving them away. “They have nothing. They have been in Avernus for a long time, but I have tried. You should understand: there is nothing in them.”
“Let us try,” Torgrun said. “There is nothing to lose.”
Maggie paused. “What if I offered you something? You let me feed, I will tell you everything - you will see everything - and I will give you something.”
Torgrun looked back toward the vehicles.
“One of those?” Maggie smiled.
“What powers those vehicles,” Torgrun asked.
“Two things: souls, and demons.”
Morad’s jaw dropped when she mentioned souls. Did he mishear?
“Demon’s how?” Spider asked. “Do we use the demon or the crap that’s left after when they die?”
She laughed. “The crap. Not as powerful as a soul, of course, but it does the job. Souls last longer, go faster, provide more…thrust. The demon juice - not so much.”
“Human souls?” Madam Portencia questioned.
“Any souls!” Maggie reached into one of the many pouches strapped to her torso and pulled out a large dark-iron coin, about 5 inches in diamater and an inch thick. She studied it for a moment. “Any soul. Pop it in, soul burns, vehicle moves.” She smiled with satisfaction.
Soul coin
“The coin is a soul?” Madam Portencia asked softly.
“Oh there’s a soul in all of these,” Maggie said, rattling her pouch.
Mak cleared his throat. Morad’s eyes were popping out of his head. “Human?”
“All sorts. This one is a dwarf,” she said, studying the infernal writing inscribed on the coin. “Rykul Boulderkin, this one.”
“We are not reapers of souls,” Torgrun said firmly. “Coming to this plane has taken us somewhere we don’t want to be. But a vehicle could help us get to where we want to be.”
“That one out there - it’s yours. The Kenku can help repair it.”
“No. We’re not letting you extract her memories,” Madam Portencia, surprisingly.
“We want her to get her memory back, but we also want her to be the fearsome creature she was,” Torgrun added. “The Kenku are our path.”
Maggie looked frustrated. “Forget the Kenku. I am the only way you will get what you want. I expect that once her memories are unlocked - for that is what I offer - her powers will return.”
Spider looked at Lulu. “Surely this is your call.”
Lulu landed on Torgrun’s shoulder. “I am very scared. But you are my friend. I trust you. Help me.”
“This is not the vision we were given,” Torgrun said firmly to Maggie. “We recognise the offer you have made, but this is not the quest we were given.”
Spider suddenly held up his hand. “No! We’ve got it wrong. I’ve just realised something! Listen: ‘she must seek the Kenku. In her memory, they speak’. Not in her memory they speak. We gotta get the memory to find out what the Kenku can say, or have said! They can’t speak - but in her memory they do!”
“In her memory they tell her something?” Torgrun asked, confused.
“Well it’s not my fault your god’s very vague with his visions, pal.”
“Alright, I’ll pay that,” Madam Portencia said, seeing the truth in Spider’s words.
“Let’s do it,” Spider said, excited. “You can look after her, it’s fine, we’re all here, nothing’s gonna happen.” He crossed his fingers in his pocked.
“Absolutely famous last words,” Mak muttered.
“No, wait,” Morad interrupted, recovering his voice. “Lady - if we let you get the memory, how many human souls will you give me? Human souls.”
“Souls?” Maggie shook her pouch again - there were a lot of coins. “Yes, you want to burn them, for the vehicle?”
“Ahhh, you’re one of those. I see.”
“Yes I am one of those,” Morad said sternly.
“You don’t want to use them for fuel?”
“NO!”
Torgrun put an arm on Morad. “Morad, everything is going fine here for the moment.”
“Morad,” Spider spoke quietly, “What if the souls in the coins belong down here? It’s their own fault?”
“No-one belongs down here.”
“People who worship devils do. It’s the whole name of the game. If they worship devils it’s their own stupid fault.”
Maggie pulled out another coin and read. “‘You wealth is safe, your soul is not.’ Probably a theif.”
“See!” Spider said. “That’s what I’m saying - he’s an arsehole! You burn that one!”
Maggie leaned in toward Morad and grinned, who held his nerve despite rotting stench. “Burn it! Or free it…”
“If there’s good ones, you lettem go, if there’s bad ones - we just burn ‘em,” Spider urged. “We fight evil people. Come on!”
Morad looked horrified. Maggie held the coin out toward him. “I’ll give it to you.”
Morad hesitated. “Ok?”
“We have a deal? This soul, that vehicle, her memories.”
Morad looked to Torgrun. “Wasn’t that the deal you wanted anyway?”
“Don’t look away from me,” Maggie taunted. “You can’t answer for yourself?”
Morad face was sweating, he was starting to lose his composure.
“Stay on the path, Morad!” Torgrun pleaded. “We are in the planes of Hell. We have seen many paths put in front of us. Do not be tempted by these other issues.”
“There is a soul in this. An actual soul,” Maggie teased. “If I put it in the machine - it is gone. Forever.”
Morad felt like he was going to burst, cry, something, anything.
“He’s not the one making deals for us,” Madam Portencia interrupted, saving him. “I want something also.”
“You too? What is it you want?”
“I just want information. I would like to know if there is any reliable way to find this Mahadi.”
“Mahadi? Huh. He will find you. If you have anything worth finding.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Madam Portencia sighed. So the answer is no, you don’t have anything."
“He meets those that have something he might want. Do you?”
“We don’t know what he wants,” Madam Portencia said glumly.
Maggie took mercy, tilting her head to Morad. “He has something very interesting.”
“The hat and the dancing again?” Madam Portencia asked wearily.
“You know what she’s talkin’ about,” Spider said. He tapped the shield and whispered. “But you’ve got a date with a volcano somewhere.”
Maggie shuffled over to Mak, and glanced at Mickey. “You two are a good match - you should fight. But not now - do you want anything? You don’t look like you want for much?”
Mak stood tall and looked down at the hag. “A cool breeze.”
“A cool breeze? That is the most wonderful requests I have ever had.” She touched her hand to Mak’s huge bicep, and he felt a soothing coolness despite her hideous appearance, before pulling away. “I can give you that.”
Spider walked over to Torgrun. “Look Torgrun, I deal with these people all the time. You two,” he said, looking at Lulu, “You need to decide if you want those memories out. No more sub-deals or side-deals. She gets the memories, we get the vehicle, and a pile of coins to run it.”
“Listen to this one,” Maggie said, agreeing with Spider’s advice, before limping over to Bili. “You only want one thing, don’t you?”
Bili nodded. “Hegrun.”
Maggie rasied an eyebrow. “Yes. I can give you a clue to help you.” She turned back to the group. “Enough. Only the little one hasn’t asked for anything, so maybe I’ll give him something special.” She summoned a hellish eruption of flame from the floor, dangling the coin over it, staring at Morad. “Yes? No?”
Morad looked very agitated. He stared at Torgrun.
“There are no easy paths. We need your memories Lulu, and she has a way of recovering them. And then we will deal with the vision of the Kenku.” He looked at Spider, who nodded.
“You know the gist of what we want, but just to be specific,” Spider said to Maggie. “Every memory you get, we get two.”
“Oh you’ll have to help. You’re not bystanders in this.”
“Fine. We get the nicest vehicle we can see. And enough coins to run ‘em,” he said looking at Morad. “The coins have to be filled with arseholes.”
“Can’t we use the demon juice,” Morad pleaded.
“Well we keep some in reserve,” Spider offered.
“Coins to me! Demon juice to me.”
Maggie pulled the coin away from the flames. “Yes?”
“Yes,” Togrun agreed.
She dropped the coin in Morad’s hand.
Morad caught the coin and his senses were instaltly overwhelmed by the sorrow trapped within. There was something deeply wrong, deeply contrary to his beliefs, about a something as sacred as a soul being trapped inside a lump of infernal iron - no matter Spider’s arguments about some souls deserving it. He slipped the coin into his pouch, vowing that no souls would burn on his watch.
Mad Maggie clapped her hands. “Let us begin!”
The cave was suddenly plunged into semi-darkness, and the curtain pulled itself closed to seal the room. Maggie raised her claw-like index finger and it lit up with a pinkish glow. She pointed to the walls of the room and started writing runes along the circumference, vivid pink and glowing as she rotated.
Suddenly worried, Madam Portencia studied the runes as Maggie etched. Her heart sunk slightly as she recognised some, and what they meant. “It is a ritual of binding,” she said quietly.
“Binding?” Torgrun coughed uncomfortably.
Maggie completed the circle. “That will do very nicely. What is going to happen is this: you will join together and journey into Lulu’s memories, into her mind, into her dreams. Preferably all of you,” she said looking at Morad. “The more the stronger, the better the chance we can break through the walls that are in Lulu’s mind. Are you willing?”
“I am willing!” Morad said immediately. He knew this was magic at work, not a holy quest like Torgrun’s, and didn’t hesitate. This was crazy, but not sacred.
“You were the one I was worried about,” Maggie said.
“No. I go in. I help Lulu. I help my team.”
Maggie nodded. “Everyone else?”
“I want to know what the ‘walls’ are made out of,” Madam Portencia asked, “And who made them.”
“The walls in Lulu’s mind? Well that is the question we hope to answer isn’t it,” Maggie said.
“Is there any danger?”
“Of course! There is always danger when you are meddling with the mind,” Maggie grinned.
“Should we leave someone behind,” Torgrun suggested, “Someone to bring us back?”
“Someone out here can’t help. The danger is in the mind, not here.”
“I’m in then,” Torgrun nodded.
“Excellent,” Maggie smiled. She lit her finger up again, and started tracing a six-pointed star on the ground.
Madam Portencia suspected what was coming. “Of course, a star. Is there anything we should be doing to help protect ourselves while we do this frankly unwise thing?”
“Anything you can do to protect your physical selves? Do not worry yourselves, I will look after you! I will be here still, only you will be travelling.”
“Don’t you want to see?”
“Oh I will see. I can straddle both worlds, unlike your mortal selves,” Maggie said happily.
“And is there any way to protect our dream-selves?”
“Only in the way you always would. Do you have any powers to strengthen your minds?”
“Hm. I only have ways to weaken,” Madam Portencia reflected ruefully.
Torgun was observing this dialogue closely, trying to determine if she spoke true. He thought she did, though the risk was great. Maggie’s idea of ‘looking after’ could be quite different to his own. He saw no choice though: to help Lulu, and to continue the Redeemer’s quest, this had to be done. He cast a quick few spells on the off-chance they helped - giving Lulu freedom of movement, and buffing the party.
Maggie finished the star, which pulsed with intent on the floor. “One of you on each point, if you please.” She walked to an alcove in the wall and pulled out two humanoid skulls, and seemed to be chatting to them in some unknown language as she returned to the star.
“My sisters won’t mind helping,” Maggie explained. “Particularly dear Baba Lysaga, so recently reunited with us!”
Morad’s knew witch-names, and glanced quickly at Bili, eyebrows raised - but the Barbarian looked none-the-wiser.
Maggie placed the skulls in the centre of the star, then called for Lulu to join them. Lulu turned her eyes to Torgrun, who nodded firmly, so she flew slowly down and landed tentatively near the skulls.
“Please don’t leave me,” Lulu said to Torgrun, eyes locked to his. “I’m still scared.”
“I will walk with you. This is our journey together,” Torgrun said.
“Your love will hold us,” Lulu smiled.
Maggie looked around. “We are ready. Any last words?”
Morad prayed quietly under his breath.
Everyone moved nervously to their star points. As Mak stepped onto the last point, he immediately felt as though he had been bound to the spot, unable to move. He strained his not inconsiderable strength against the binding, but could only move fractions of an inch. He was stuck in some invisible force - and so, he noticed, were his companions.
Everyone struggled for a moment, before realising there was no escape. Some tried to relax into it, some tensed, and Morad kept praying.
“Madam, are we supposed to feel like we’re locked in place now?” Spider muttered out of the side of his mouth.
“Yes, yes, there is no going back now,” she cackled.
Lulu noticed this and fluttered into the air in a panic. “Down, little one, down,” Maggie said, not unkindly. Lulu obeyed, clearly worried, but trusting Torgrun.
Maggie walked slowly around the star, staring unnervingly into everyone’s eyes as she passed. “Yes. You are ready. Mickey - to me.”
The construct struggled over to her slowly, dragging a leg. “Sit Mickey.”
Mickey collapsed to sit in front of her. Maggie caressed it’s head, then ripped open her shirt at her belly. Inside, much to everyone’s horror, a narrow, fleshy tube was wound against her wrinkled flesh. She freed it and slowly unwound it, humming a tuneless dirge as she reached over to Mickey’s tube. She scratched an opening into it, then slid her own into it, somehow welding them together.
“Ahhhh. I need the extra juice,” she explained with satisfaction.
Madam Portencia understood, but couldn’t help but feel revulsion. Everyone else watched on, just as horrified and still frozen in place.
Maggie held up her free hand, which glowed with an even greater intensity. She pointed toward Lulu and a beam of brilliant light shot into her.
“Enjoy the trip!”
Everything went black.
Eyes sprung open, to confusion. Morad was staring into his own eyes across the star. So was Spider. Everyone was looking out of someone else’s eyes. Bili looked down to see Torgrun’s body. The discombobulation was overwhelming and a wave of nausea rose quickly.
“Oops! One moment,” Maggie’s voice echoed in everyone’s mind - she was nowhere to be seen, nor were Mickey and Lulu. There was a hideous scream and then the perspectives blurred and changed, and everyone was back inside their own heads.
“Better,” Maggie said with satisfaction. “Now…”
Lulu’s Dream: Peace
There was a brilliant flash of light, then darkness. A tingling sensation swept over the everyone as vibrant rainbows appeared.
As the rich, radiant light of a hundred dancing rainbows slowly dissolved, warm sunlight filled the area. Lulu, in mammoth form, flew lazily in a lush meadow at the shoulder of a beautiful, blindfolded angel: Zariel, before the fall. The lands they walked were lush and idyllic, and a great peace settled.
Neither Zariel nor Lulu reacted to the observers.
Madam Portencia recalled Lulu’s tale of the Elysian fields she had come from when Sylvira had summonsed her to Candlekeep: this must be that place.
As the pair strolled through the tall green grass, the voice of Maggie interrupted and filled everyone’s minds, “No no no, this is only what Lulu wishes was true. This is imagination, it doesn’t represent truth. Push through, We need to see more.”
Everyone understood, and tried to advance the vision. Everyone but Torgrun, who resisted taking this fleeting moment of serenity away from Lulu, knowing that what came next would hurt her. But he was powerless to stop it once he felt the rush of everyone else’s thoughts.
Lulu’s Dream: Obsession
The landscape swirled and now Lulu and Zariel sat atop a large hill, looking out over the rolling plains and forests.
“But to what end?” Lulu asked.
“To disrupt the balance!” Zariel said passionately. “Demons vs. Devils. Heaven vs. Hell. The Great Wheel is a trap. It turns, but never ends. We will break the wheel”
“Oh no,” muttered Spider.
“How? Where?” Lulu questioned.
“The Blood War. The Powers of Heaven refuse to intervene – to break an eternal cycle endlessly consuming mortal souls. But if we created a second front – if we broke the balance – that might be all it would take.”
“We are witnessing the memories,” Torgrun said, and he sensed that this was a true memory.
“Can Lulu, our Lulu, hear these memories?” Madam Portencia asked.
“I have no connection to her here. We are travelling inside her memories, but she is outside of this too.”
The sound of something sucking - feeding? - interrupted the discussion, followed by Maggie’s voice again. “Ahh, this is better! Challenge her. Make her find the truth.”
This time even Torgrun didn’t hesitate, and the dream quickly changed, and this time it felt like Lulu was half pulling everyone forward. Her mind was opening!
Lulu’s Dream: Trapped
A flame-encircled battlefield appears in the barren hell scape of Avernus. At the centre of the circle, Lulu and the angel Zariel lay unconscious and prone, horribly injured. The party found themselves standing in defence, facing outward as six small, spine-covered devils and two Bearded Devils crept closer.
For the first time it felt like this was real - no longer merely observing, this was a physical presence.
“The devils!” hissed Maggie’s disembodied voice, reinforcing this change in perspective. “You must defeat those devils! Don’t let Lulu shut this down!”
To this point everyone had been observers, but now full control was regained. The devils cried out with bloody lust as they closed, and the fight was soon in full swing.
Morad struck one of the Spined Devils first, and hard, followed by Mak who roared with passionate rage as he sliced into the nearest Bearded opponent. Madam Portencia’s thunder balls rolled out and struck true, as did Torgrun’s powerful strikes.
The Devils struck back, targetting and hitting Morad first. His back was turned to one of the Spined Devils, who took the opportunity to explode two tail spines into Morad, undefended. Mak saw this and used his barbarian strength to absorb some of the blow, reeling but holding as he did.
The namesake beards of the Bearded leaders pierced Mak and Spider, but luckily both avoided being poisoned. Spider tried to retaliate with his daggers, but only struck once. Finally, Bili rumbled into the fray, destroying a Spined devil as he did.
The battle swung quickly, once the second round of blows were struck. Three of the Spined Devils and both Bearded fell quickly under the flurry, with Mak steamrolling several in a continuous sequence of overwhelming might.
As Morad raised his scimitar to fell another, all four surviving Devils suddenly kneeled down in front of their opponent, dropping their weapons and prostrating themselves.
“Mercy, mercy great ones! Spare us, and we will follow where you lead, yours to command, you will be our masters!” their voices scratched out in Infernal.
Morad didn’t understand a word. He beheaded the devil with a fluid stroke.
Another lay in front of Spider and Madam Portencia. Madam Portencia gave Spider the look, and Spider, who understood both Madam P and the devil, didn’t hesitate, skewering it in the head as Madam Portencia tolled her bell. The Devil screeched as the dagger lodged in its skull, before the toll put it out of its misery.
Torgrun followed suit, finishing off the devil kneeling in front of him. Mak faced the final devil, heard it say something utterly unintelligible, and killed it with a single blow.
“Seriously,” Spider said to Madam P, “What good would they have been?”
“More trouble that they’re worth,” Torgrun agreed.
Madam Portencia looked around at everybody. “We need to be clear that we’re not sinking into this. We’re not going to start doing deals, or picking up minions.”
“That’s true,” Mak nodded.
The red skies above started to shrink, and this time everyone felt themselves being pulled away - Torgrun could sense Lulu was definitely in control now. He let himself go with it. “We’re getting close!” he yelled.
Lulu’s Dream: Lost
Everyone felt themselves lose control of their bodies again, only able to observe once again.
Lulu and Yael flew low across the Avernian wastelands, Zariel nowhere to be seen. But Spider quickly saw that her glowing sword lay across Yael’s lap, and tears were fresh on her cheeks. This obviously presaged the moments from the vision of Torm when Zariel’s sword was buried.
Torgrun felt a stab of pain from Lulu, there was a glitch, and then Lulu flew alone, in mammoth form, over the peaceful fields again. Torgrun could feel her memories fighting to shut away the pain, and he urged her on - “Lulu! Embrace the truth!”
The glitch repeated, and Yael and Lulu once again flew toward the red hill, no doubt the hill where the sword was buried. The pain returned, but Torgrun felt Lulu fighting it off.
Then another shift, and Lulu the mammoth was flying again in Avernus, angling down toward a what looked like a travelling caravan. A man with a turbaned head looked up toward her and a wide smile broke out on his face, and he beckoned her down encouragingly.
Madam Portencia gasped: that must be Mahadi?! She tried to zoom in quickly, to find out more, seeing pitched tents with what looked like stallholders selling goods, as well as a larger central tent pitched amongst the others. But before she could find Mahadi again, the darkness returned.
A sonorous voice spoke in the blackness, with a lilt similar to Morad’s: “My friend, you will find the aid of the Emporium to be all that you could ever wish - and more…”
Then there was the sound of something being dunked in water, water that somehow sounded thick.
Lulu’s Dream: Despair
Everyone found themselves suddenly falling from a great height, plunging into a pool of dark, thick, cloying sludge, surrounded by a barren landscape of utter devastation.
The sludge was rising rapidly, enveloping feet and ankles, gripping tightly. Everyone was overcome by an overwhelming sense of loss. Torgrun could feel Lulu’s despair: something bad had just happened.
“Don’t let the sludge consume you!” Maggie screeched. “She mustn’t succumb to this, get through her defences! We are close!”
Summoning every ounce of strength, everyone but Madam Portencia and Torgrun hauled themselves to the barren shores, escaping the clutches of the sludge. The two left behind felt a burning pain inside their heads as the goop sucked them down.
Madam Portencia was sinking fast, so Morad quickly uncoiled his whip and with a super accurate crack he grabbed Madam Portencia and hauled her to safety.
Torgrun felt Lulu’s pain deeply, felt her great despair, and he too was sinking. He cast a command at Lulu: “Lulu! Push foward!!”. With a great effort he struggled free of the grasping goop, just as Bili summoned his own magical vine to assist.
“Lulu!” Togrun commanded again, “You must break through! You must see the truth!”
The skies suddenly started to shrink into darkness, from which a brilliant point of light shone. Everyone was yanked into the point by Lulu: she was present, and she wanted to finish this.
Lulu’s Dream: Betrayal
Zariel sat astride Lulu, with General Yael beside on her black charger. Battle flags of Yael’s forces and the Zariel’s Hellriders flew nearby as they sat atop a small rise on the Avernian plains, surrounded by a vast array of soldiers.
“The demon army is buckling under our assault!” Zariel said with passion. “I think Haruman may be able to catch them in a pincer and end this terror for all time.”
Yael nodded and held a fist aloft, preparing to unleash a charge from her forces.
At that moment, a desperate trumpet sounded out across the battlefield. Zariel, Yael, and Lulu jerked their heads around.
“I gave no order!” Yael cried.
“What is happening?” Lulu asked.
Yael grabbed ahold of Lulu’s fur and shouted, “Fly! We need to see!”
Lulu launched into the sky, carrying both Yael and Zariel.
“Sunstar’s platoon has sounded a retreat!” Yael said, anger in her voice. She yelled to her second-in-command, waiting below. “Order Jander to turn back! And rally the rest of the reserve! We are going to charge the devil army! We have to keep them off Haruman’s back!”
A huge section of Yael’s army was peeling away towards the large portal which had led the Hellriders to Avernus. Units from other sections of the army were following fast.
“The call is spreading,” Zariel whispered. “We are betrayed. What has he done?”
Zariel was in despair, lost, uncertain. Lulu could sense it, and everyone felt it, the certain knowledge that her crusade to rid the realms of the demon plague had failed. Her hope was breaking. She looked to Yael.
Yael too looked devastated. She locked eyes with Zariel and together they swore a silent pact. They would fight to the bitter end.
Zariel’s eyes drifted back to the portal, where Jander Sunstar and the Hellriders were fleeing back to the mortal plane.
They weren’t turning back.
The portal snapped shut.
And everyone’s eyes snapped open, back in the cave.
Drool dripped from Maggie’s slack jaw, her cheeks flushed and eyes glazed over in ecstasy. “Wonderful,” she groaned. Mickey lay prone on the ground, drained.
Lulu woke, shaking her trunk and head as if to clear it. Torgrun walked to her, and put his hand on her. “You did well. You did so well.”
“With your help,” she said, happily looking around.
Lulu flew into the air and over to Torgrun. “My memories! They are flooding back, but it is so confused. There is too much. I need time - but there is one thing. I believe that the sword is on Haruman’s Hill! Haruman was loyal to the end, it makes sense that that is where Yael and I would have gone. The site of Haruman’s last stand.”
Torgrun hushed Lulu, seeing Maggie starting to shake herself out of her stupor - these words were not for her ears.
“Who is Sunstar,” Madam Portencia whispered. Lulu shook her head, “I need time to arrange my memories.”
Torgrun encouraged Lulu to cast her light, and her raidant light bathed everyone in its warmth.
Maggie looked surprised, then grinned. “It seems to have worked.”
“My dears,” Maggie continued, foggily, “That was more, much more, than I had hoped for. I can’t thank you enough.”
“And so our deal is made,” Torgrun said.
“And so it is. Did you get what you wanted?”
“I believe we can now move on with the next part of our quest.”
“Very good,” Maggie nodded. “Now, what did we agree? Ahe yes - the Tormentor, it is yours. The Kenku can mount a weapon - you will need that.”
Togrun bowed, acknowledging the deal was complete, turned his back and walked out of the room to the huge vehicle sitting outside. The wheels were made of internal iron, but covered in blades - the better to grip the arid plains of Avernus.
The Tormentor
Torgrun ran his hands over the ironwork, using his Dwarvish heritage to analyse it. He noticed some of the armour plates were quite badly rusted - no doubt reducing its effectiveness. But they could be replaced, if the metal could be sourced. There was a weapon point, with a seat behind it, similar to a balista that might sit atop a fortress wall.
There were several seats - six in total. One, slightly off centre at the front, had some kind of wheel mounted in front of it, like a ships wheel but mounted at a 45-degree angle.
Back inside the ritual cave, Spider noted that Mickey lay slumped on the ground, drained and breathing hard. He walked over and quietly examined the leg that Mickey had been favouring. Embedded in the calf-muscle was a huge thorn, glowing red through Mickey’s almost translucent skin.
“M’lady,” Spider said, “Your man Mickey here’s got something stuck in his leg.”
“So he does,” Maggie said. “Leave it - he’ll live.”
Spider shook his head. “I can’t stand watching him hobble around the place.”
“Do what you wish - but disconnect me first.” She was still connected to Mickey by the intestine-like tube.
Spider hesitated, then put on his chef-face and went about detaching the conduit. Despite his training he came close to retching, but managed to cover it up. He then went to work on the leg, cutting around the wound to free the thorn. Mickey howled out in gurgling agony, but had no energy to do anything else.
“Take it easy pal,” Spider said in infernal, “I’m getting this thing out of your leg.”
Maggie watched Mickey cry out. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Spider ignored her, wrenching the thorn out, then using his cooking thread to tie the wound closed. Mickey appeared to have lost consciousness at this point.
Madam Portencia had been watching closely as Spider worked on Mickey. She suspected he was secretly after the spike, but it did seem like this was purely a random act of kindness. She was nonplussed by this.
Maggie hobbled over to Mak, who was trying his best not to watch Spider’s work. “I promised you something,” Maggie said. From her hip-bag, she pulled out a glass dome and handed it to Mak. The dome seemed to contain falling snow within, and Mak gasped when he saw the diorama it fell on. It was his home, the mountains of home, so far away, but somehow contained inside this trinket.
Holding it, Mak could feel the coolness stored inside. “Enjoy this - it may come in useful. Or you can just enjoy it,” Maggie said.
She turned to Bili. “Hedrun, you sought? She too is in Avernus, you will be pleased - or horrified - to learn.”
Bili’s was shocked. He had never truly believed the tales were true. His tribe had sent him on this quest, to seek the Ice Witch in Baator, but it had always seemed nigh on impossible that he could succeed, despite his hope. “Where can I find her?” he asked, voice shaking.
“Even I don’t have that knowledge. Seek Olanthius. Only he knows.”
Maggie turned to Morad. “I gave you one coin. You deserve more.” She tossed two more coins to Morad. One felt full of great sorrow, the other unbridled fury. Morad nodded.
Madam Portencia was next. She had been standing by Spider as he worked, trying to figure out what his angle was in doing this when Maggie addressed her.
“I promised you nothing,” Maggie started. “That seems rather unfair. You seek Mahadi, but he like to find rather than be found. But there are some that might help. The Warlord outside - its name is Feonor. Feonor, you might be interested to know, once had a…thing, with Mahadi.”
“Riiight,” Madam Portencia said, raising a finely manicured eyebrow.
“Their break-up was a rich source of fodder for me,” Maggie continued, a drop of drool dripping from her mouth. “She may be able to help you find, or contact Mahadi. Feonor is rather aloof, but you are the sort that might tempt it.”
“Why is she here?”
“I couldn’t tell you - repairs, no doubt? She is one of the Warlords, there are several others.”
“How many,” Madam Portencia asked warily.
“Three - or is it four? Beware of them. They roam the wastelands, searching for prey. But that,” she said, pointing to the Tormentor, “will help. If you can power it well enough,” she teased at Morad.
“Plenty of demon blood,” he retorted.
“You may need a little more boost,” she grinned. “A little speed.”
She knelt down next to Spider, bones cracking as she did, who was tying off the last stitch on Mickey. “That was very thoughtful of you, thank you. The only one that didn’t ask for anything, and here you are taking care of dear Mickey,” she said, giving Mickey’s thigh a squeeze.
Spider gave her a genuine smirk.
“You’re different to the rest, aren’t you?” Maggie said.
“A wee bit,” Spider agreed. “Actually you remind me of someone I know.”
“Do I now? And who would that be my dear?”
“Oh, someone back home. She looked after me.”
“Does she have sisters too?”
“Not that I know of. She might of eaten’ ‘em.”
Maggie cackled.
“Your man Mickey is not much good as a bodyguard, with one of his legs not working properly,” Spider said, holding up the glowing red thorn. “Do you know what this is?”
“A thorn?” Maggie said. “Have it.”
“Do you know why it gloes?”
“Hellfire? I don’t recognise it.”
Spider shrugged, though he was intrigued, and dropped it into his bag.
“Listen, little one,” Maggie said, suddenly serious. “You have a special friend too, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“There will come a time, when… no no no.” She reached into a pouch and pulled out a small scroll, sized just right for Spider. It was old, made of leather (or skin?) parchment, and was sealed in blood-red wax with the letter Z.
“Take this,” Maggie said carefully. “You will know when to open it. And whatever you do, do not open it before you know.”
“Thanks,” Spider said, simply.
“You’re welcome. And thank you all, that was quite the experience.” She wandered away out of the cave.
“Before you go, if I recall the terms of the deal, there was going to be a sack of coins to run the thing with,” Spider called.
“I gave them to your righteous one,” she said over her shoulder, waving.
Spider laughed. “Ah. Right. And can we come back if we get stuck?”
“Of course! Come back, bring me more dreams.”
Spider gave a small bow, and even though he back was turned, she nodded acknowledgement.
Mickey staggered off after her - at first still limping , but quickly recovering to a normalish stride. He gurgled with what sounded like pleasure.
A lot of debate followed about exactly which weapon to mount on the Tormentor. The Kenku provided feedback on each:
- Harpoon Flinger: Simple enough. 10 very large harpoons.
- Wrecking Ball: works just like it says on the pack - but you have to get close to use it. And the Kenku advise it will reduce the manoeuvrability of the vehicle somewhat.
- Gorger Saw: an inelegant weapon for more brutal age - effective, but again only useful in melee.
- Infernal Screamer: powered by pain, otherwise known as a melting torso mounted on the front of the vehicle.
- Bile Sprayer: sprays an attractive cone of acidic bile powered by demonic organs.
- Flamethrower: crude but effective.
- Styx Sprayer: a firehose of Styx River goodness.
Morad and Torgrun immediately rejected the Infernal Screamer, for obvious reasons, and despite the Kenku praising it’s effectiveness.
The harpoon seemed simple enough, though a little dull, and the flamethrower was rejected on the grounds that this was Hell - flame wasn’t exactly in short supply. The ball and saw were both considered a little too limited in scope: being able to stay out of melee range was a more attractive option. Even though taking out other vehicles was tempting, it was considered that taking out the driver might me more effective. Plus the Kenku pointed out that the gold armour on Warlord Feonor’s vehicle was magically buffed to resist exactly the kind of damage the gorger might inflict.
The choice was narrowed down to the Sprayer and Harpoon. Spider turned to the Kenku and asked point blank: “What would you pick?”
“Depends what you’re trying to do. The harpoons are great for staying at range, obviously.”
“What if we attached a rope to the harpoons to haul things in, or entangle them?” Morad suggested.
“That is a great idea!” the Kenku enthused. “We could attach some kind of wheel, if you could find us one.”
“I can just see us sending out 6 harpoons and missing every one,” Torgrun mused. “It’s sounding like a bag of tricks rather than a defensive mechanism.”
“What of the other weapons?” Spider pressed.
“Well if you really want to incapacitate the other side - the Styx, that’s the stuff. Mind you - you don’t want to touch it, hard to refill. Be careful.”
“You may be right,” the other Kenku chimed in. “Maybe the bile is better. I mean they’re all good! Just depends what you’re trying to do. Are you going to run, or you’re going to fight?”
“We are not going out to search for fights,” Torgrun said. “We’re going out to get rid of things that come at us. They’re going to close on us, and then we’ve got to use something like the bile sprayer.”
“Does the bile sprayer work on everything,” Spider asked, thinking of how fire definitely didn’t.
“Ohhh, you know, it’s acid? It works on what it works on! Plenty out there where acid is like having a bath. Plenty of others where it’s going to hurt bad. It does eat through a lot of shit. I mean if you have a big field of stumbling demons in front of you, spray ‘em with bile, most of them go down. But a vehicle? Maybe you melt some plates?”
“I’m all for not going against vehicles,” Torgrun reaffirmed.
Spider ran a straw poll. Everyone voted for the Sprayer, with the exception of Madam Portencia how favoured the harpoons. She nodded once the decision was clear. “We’re going to need to find demons to power the engine anyway,” she agreed.
The Kenku disagreed. “No, no, soul coins are definitely the way to go! Demons are too slow.”
“But you can?” Torgrun confirmed.
“Oh sure - but these things are about speed!”
“How long will a coin last,” Spider asked.
“Look, anything from one to three days - easy. Depends if there’s something left in it. Where your demon ichor? One flask, maybe 8 hours?”
Spider gave the Kenku the go-ahead on the bile sprayer, and they set to work. It was a big tank attached to a tube, that fit into the sprayer. They pointed at the tank. “That’s the magic right there - drop the demon parts in the top, passes through the magic blender here, next thing you have a pot of ichor. Nice.”
Spider saw a flaw with this instruction. “You say you stick demons in, and they turn into the fuel? But when you kill demons, they turn into a puddle of acid, so how the hell are we meant to do that?”
“Ah. You’ve got to be quick,” the Kenku laughed. Spider stared as Morad groaned.
“Takes a few seconds - the bigger ones, more seconds, the little ones, less. But if you’re quick enough - should be fine.”
“How do we pick them up without burning ourselves on the acid?” Morad asked.
“We can give you a scoop?”
Morad looked blank.
“The other thing you can do - you get your live demon, drag it over, stuff it in!”
“Fair enough, I’ll pay that,” Madam Portenica
“That’s going to be your job Mak,” Spider laughed, “Because you know what that involves - grappling!”
“I love a good grapple,” Mak grunted happily.
“Just don’t grab one that’s too big,” Madam Portencia advised.
“Not really,” the Kenku corrected, “As you feed it in, it gets smaller…”
They warned that the armour on the vehicle was weakened in several spots, corroded and damaged. They offered to fit better if it could be found, but cautioned that such large slabs of strong fel-iron were in high demand. “Be careful - everyone is after it.”
Torgrun studied every inch of the vehicle, questioning how it worked and fit together. The Kenku showed the likely failure spots - the engine, steering, weapons - and advised all could be repaired, on the fly if required, at some risk. Torgrun checked his tools, and did his best to memorise everything. “Unlatch this, this, and this,” the Kenku demonstrated, “Peel it back, and inside is the furnace.” The engine was the greatest danger, and Torgrun reserved one of the seats closest, the better to get to it quickly if required.
It was decided that Morad should be the driver, given his prodigious horse-riding skills. The mechanism seemed simple enough, a big circular wheel that could be rotated right and left, like pulling on reigns of a horse. The device for speeding up and down was less obvious, being a lever that you pushed forward or back, but Morad thought he could make it work. They pointed out a slot next to the wheel. “This is where you feed the coins, and this is where you pour the ichor,” they said indicating a funnel nearby. There was also an emergency stop pedal, which the Kenku said should only be deployed in a dire situation. “Like if you’re about to head into the Styx, or off a cliff,” they cackled.
“How quick does it stop,” Spider asked.
“And when it stops suddenly, what happens to all the people aboard?” Madam Portencia added.
“Hang on?” the Kenku offered.
“Can it go backwards?” Spider followed up.
“Nope.”
Spider was voted into the weapon position, and he set about making it suitable for his stature, reinforcing the seating position and adding some leather ties to help stabilise everything. “Try not to drive into the spray once you’ve sprayed it,” the Kenku offered helpfully. Morad grunted.
Madam Portencia assigned herself the remaining seat atop the bulk of the vehicle, opposite Torgrun. An appropriate spot to observe and attack with her innate weapons.
Bili and Mak were left with the dangerous, but thrilling, unsecured positions on the vehicle carcass. There were various handholds and small welded platforms in front of each wheel, meaning they could rove over the shell as required. The Kenku fitted two large metal poles which would allow the barbarians to have far greater reach whilst still aboard.
Mak almost looked like he was looking forward to leaning out on the poles - it reminded him of Elk racing back home, where racers would use rope and strapping to counterbalance the great beasts as they wheeled around sharp corners.
While the Kenku worked and everyone familiarised themselves with how the Tormentor operated, Madam Portencia took a deep breath and slowly approached Warlord Feonor’s camp.
The Warlord was sheltering from the heat under their bone and skin umbrella, staring into the middle distance. Behind her, ghouls and ghasts and disembodied crawling hands scuttled around the golden vehicle, polishing and cleaning until it gleamed in the heat.
Madam Portencia sidled up, as casually as she could. Feonor didn’t move an inch or even appear to notice as Madam Portencia drew near - quite clearly ignoring her intentionally.
Madam Portencia gave a small cough, clearing her through, and curtsied. “Ahem. Excuse me? Your Lordship?”
There was no response.
“Tough crowd, huh.” Madam Portencia sidled closer, being as deferential as possible, trying to draw within the Warlord’s line of sight. Feonor continued to look into the distance. After bobbing around a little longer, Feonor eventually let out a very long sigh.
“Sorry,” Madam Portencia said quickly, “I don’t mean to bother you, and obviously you’re very busy, and um, I… I just wondered if I might have a moment of your time?”
Feonor blinked.
“Right. Thank you for your indulgence, your Warlordship,” Madam Portencia said, curtseying again. Feonor studied her nails.
“The, um, Miss…Maggie, Lady… Her Madship has suggested to me that you might perchance have, um, be able to assist with me the whereabouts of one Mr Mahadi?”
The Warlord stopped examining her exquisitely sharpened nails at the mention of Mahadi. She turned her gaze directly on Madam Portencia, who did her best to maintain eye contact despite the intense pressure she suddenly felt in her head. The Warlord’s eyes were pools of black speckled with stars. Madam Portencia quivered under the inspection, feeling her soul being sucked into those pools. Still Feonor said nothing.
“Perhaps,” Madam Portencia managed to say, breaking the silence, “Perhaps I could be in some way of assistance, to you, if you were able to assist me in this matter?”
Feonor tilted her head, and spoke for the first time. “It is all frightfully dull,” she sighed.
“I apologise,” Madam Portencia said, misunderstanding. “I completely understand and I wouldn’t be talking to you at all if it wasn’t somewhat important.”
“Not you. It is frightfully dull.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. What - what is frightfully dull?”
“Oh everything,” Feonor said, waving her arms at the landscape. “Mahadi, I tired of him, and left.”
“Do you want to have a cup of tea and talk about it?” Madam Portencia offered.
“So I just left.”
“You mean you were just with him?” Madam Portencia said hopefully.
“No. I left him.”
“Right. So does that mean you don’t know where he is?”
Feonor sighed again. “I could show you how to find him. I don’t think you’re his type though.”
“Oh, you misunderstand me wanting to find him!” Madam Portencia quickly jumped in.
“Then again,” Feonor said, running her eyes over Madam Portencia’s figure, “Maybe? I think though the naked man is perhaps more likely.” She looked up toward Bili.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Madam Portencia promised.
“Who are you to help me?” Feonor asked.
“I am Madam Portencia,” Madam Portencia said, feeling on more solid ground. “Oracle of Zakhara!”
Feonor looked blank. “You know what is boring about this place? Everything is the same. Everything is evil, or demonic, or nasty. I mean, I like that as much as the next…”
“Sure, don’t we all,” Madam Portencia nodded.
“But I tire of it, don’t you?”
“From time to time. I understand, sometimes you need a little break.”
“That’s it. Maybe you can be of use. A little break…you know what I want?”
“A makeover?”
Feonor looked at her hands, which were perfect. And felt her hair, which was also perfect. She looked hard at Madam Portencia.
“Sorry, wrong track - do continue,” Madam Portencia quailed.
“What I miss, and have been missing, is something good. Something untainted, something different to all of this.”
In the near distance, Morad’s ears started burning.
Madam Portencia watched as Feonor reached into her dress - or, wait, her hand seemed to be reaching inside her ribs? Ugh. In any case, she pulled out a largish coin from somewhere within. It wasn’t a soul coin, but it was unusual - once side showed a smiling man in a turban, the other the head of a tiger.
“This coin can find Mahadi,” Feonor said, flipping it. It flew up in the air and hovered at the top of it’s arc, before clearly turning to face in a particular direction. It held there for a moment, before Feonor closed her fist and it dropped into her other hand.
“Bring me something good, and you can have this,” she grinned. “Nothing from here. Or if it is - nothing corrupted.”
Madam Portencia patted her pockets, smiling nervously.
“Preferably living. I don’t want a dead good thing.”
“I understand. I’ll see what I can do,” Madam Portencia said. “If I do find something, how can I find you?”
“Ask Maggie. She keeps tabs on us,” Feonor said, then raised her umbrella again and looked away.
Madam Portencia took the cue, and backed away slowly, curtseying as she did.
The Kenku stood back to admire their work once it was done. The Tormentor was ready. “You’re setting yourselves up to be Warlords, are you?” they asked.
“No,” Spider said flatly.
“Yes!” Bili said simultaneously.
“Yes! Well if you’re going to be Warlords,” the Kenku said. “If you’re going to be Warlords - you need to give this a name.” They pointed over to Feonor’s vehicle, which was preparing to leave, and whispered, “That’s Golden Doom.” Spider looked thoughtful.
Everyone watched as Feonor’s crew strapped in, then the driver buckled into his seat. At a nod from Feonor, he pulled out a soul coin and dropped it into the feeder slot. There was a rumble from within the vehicle which passed underfoot as the machine came to life, and seconds later screams of anguish and terror echoed out from within the engine. The souls crying out as they were destroyed.
Morad stared in horror, hand over mouth, barely believing what he was hearing. The massive vehicle started forward and moved out between the now open gates, the wails drifting back as it disappeared into the distance.
Torgrun swore under his breath and turned to the Kenku. “How much ichor do you have?”
“We have a couple of vials we can give you. This is precious stuff, but Maggie likes you.” They handed over three empty vials too. “And do you have coins?”
“Yes, but as a last resort,” Torgrun said grimly.
“That’s how you run them - you’ll go slower without them.”
“We will go slower,” Torgrun confirmed.
Torgrun climbed up the watch tower to check where Feonor had left - and to check she hadn’t set a trap. He saw dust trails heading off to what he guessed was East, calming his fears.
He returned to find Spider slapping thick red paint he’d sourced from the Kenku - remarkably blood coloured - on the side of the Tormentor, writing something in infernal. No-one had noticed until he’d just about finished.
“Holy Terror,” Spider grinned.
The Kenku flapped their wings in appreciation. “Holy Terror! You are throwing down the gauntlet!” They flapped their wings in appreciation. “I don’t know that you’ll make many friends with a name like that, but we love it!”
Torgun turned to Lulu. “Which way do we go?”
“Do you have the map?”
Spider hauled it out of his magic bag and everyone leaned over. Harumen’s Hill was clearly marked on the North of the map. “That is where we should head, but this map - I wouldn’t trust it too much. But generally North should hold true.”
Torgrun did his best to estimate the right direction, using his stone-sense, then nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Regarding the fuel,” Torgrun said as people started climbing aboard, “I’m all for slow and steady wins the race, but we have to be practical here. We are in Hell. If someone starts chasing us, or we run out of ichor, we’ll have to use a coin.”
“Yes, but we don’t want to end up in Hell,” Morad said simply as he strapped in. Torgrun could hear the pure truth in Morad’s words - but he also knew compromises were going to have to be made. If it cost him his soul to redeem Elturel and Zariel, so be it.
As Spider climbed up, he paused by Morad’s station. “You ready to go big fella?”
“Yes,” Morad confirmed quietly, concentrating on the controls in front of him.
“Good,” Spider smiled, silently palming his soul coin into the slot by Morad’s side as he passed.
The Tormentor literally screamed into life, the wails of Spider’s souls crying out as they were fed into the burning maw of the engine.
Everyone froze as they heard the nerve-shattering wails before clambering to their positions. Morad felt the power of the vehicle and urgently grasped the controls, assuming Torgrun had done something to start things up. “Are those demon sounds?” he shouted over the cacophony.
“Let’s go!” Spider shouted. Madam Portencia guessed what had happened, and shot dagger eyes at Spider.
“Excellent!” the Kenku cheered. “Full power!” The Redcaps hooted and hollered.
Morad quickly realised it was souls burning, not ichor. He shuddered, but assumed it was residual fuel, having missed Spider’s work. It was deeply disturbing, but he cleared his head, released the throttle, and massive Tormentor slowly started moving toward the gate.
Madam Portencia yelled down to the gathered caps. “You’d better open the gate because he’s liable to crash right into it!”
The Madcaps stopped in their tracks. “We could not open the gate? We hadn’t thought of that! We could not open the gate, and they could crash into it!” They started dancing with glee at this idea.
Spider turned the barrel of bile sprayer in their direction, narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head toward the gate.
The ‘caps burst into action, and the gate sprung open.
“There are two things happening,” Torgrun yelled out to Madam Portencia, “I’m horrified by the sound, I’m horrified by where we are, and now I’m horrified by what we’re on!”
“That’s three things,” Madam Portencia corrected, agreeing none-the-less.
Morad pushed the thottle, felt the power he was wielding, and the Holy Terror moved out into the wastelands of Avernus.
Tormentor Handout/Character Sheet
Map of Fort Knucklebone
Session played: 22 February, 1, 23 March 2021