(August - November 2018)
When the Bishop returned from Semuanya's Bog after the Party defeated the Dragon, Savrin had a letter for him from Enial, asking the Party to meet with him. Excluding Balbito (who Enial did not trust yet), the Planeswalkers were instructed to head to the Hive, and look for the Goatswood Boys at the Viswick's Boughs tavern. Upon arriving, they met a young urban druid lad with a mannequin construct who took them to Enial, who had locked himself in the anti-scrying version of a Faraday Cage.
He told them to trust literally no one with this information, (of course Bishop told Savrin the very next day) but he told them of a person called the Shadow Lord, who was the true power behind the Black Lotus, and was so powerful that he had killed a god in the past. The Party had been warned about him before, in Helga's message from the Orace of Iida, as well as in Lady Scarlett 's notes.
Enial had a mission for the Party; he gave them a sealed scroll to exchange with a Bone Naga named Donat Sanp, who would in return tell them the location of a secret pad lock matching a spiky-horned key that they had received in the hieroglyphed dungeons (where they found the cursed dagger) (The key found in Torch in Entry Nineteen?). Donat Sanp, the ambassador of an Undead Drow goddess (or Orcus?), was located in Zelatar, in the Abyss. Enial's secret scroll bore the name of a rival who would challenge the Drow goddess. They were to meet Donat at the Sign of the Black Heart Inn. Donal Sanp could not be seen with the Party, and he could not leave his office. The first words the Party spoke to him had to be “Life is fleeting, but death endures”.
Enial also recommended that the Party get merchant's passes, in order to have easier access around the city, since the Demon Prince who rules it (Grazzt) forbids anyone to harm merchants unless they break the law.
After completing the Armory Heist (25) for the Church of Pelor, the Party started on Enial's mission.
(September 2018)
Helga got a merchant's pass for the Bishop (with the rest of the Party acting as his servants) from a Githzerai called The Rule of Three. Others in the Party did research on Zelatar.
The Party decided to pretend to be cyanide dealers, as Demons are immune to poison and enjoy the taste. Dash-A obtained five barrels of Cyanide water from the runoff at the Great Foundry (with permission from his factor), and hired a cart and teamster (Jeffrey) to bring them to the Abyss. They went through a gate that went directly to Zelatar, which uses a bent nail as the key. Unfortunately, although the party had been told that it the gate way two-way, they could not return to Sigil through it.
A frog-like Demon (possibly a Hezrou) immediately tried to enslave them (Balbito speaks Abyssal, so was able to understand him), but was deterred by our merchant passes. The Demon was in the process of enslaving some tired, weak, or sick Humans and Demons - Bal did not tell the party that for fear of what Helga might do.
They headed towards the city gates, but were surprised by some Viper Trees that bit at the Good Party members. Helga was paralyzed and weakened by the venom. Silverpaw dragged her out of reach of the Trees.
Once the Planeswalkers got to the gates of the city, they were mobbed by deformed Demons looking to be their guides. They chose a Vrock with a crippled wing (Slippery Jack) who offered to guide them for two hundered gold, and told him he would receive another two hundred if he guided them well. He had an Australian accent and a propensity for talking a lot. He led them to a fire (a Greenfire gate) they had to step through to get to the more upper class area of town ( from Fogtown to the Dark Flame District) , and directly to the Sign of the Black Heart. The Vrock did not feel safe due to the large number of high level Demons there. He complained that the Party was cheating him until he was given his extra two-hundred gold (by Dash-A), after which he left.
(October 2018)
The Party discussed what to do outside the Black Heart Inn - they decided to call the Cyanide water “Twisted Death”. Dash-A, Toby, and Jeffrey, the teamster, stayed with the cart in the stable, while the rest of the Party were directed to the office.
The Bishop and Reinhalt made a deal with the Demon in the office (an enormous, tentacled creature in unnatural darkness) to sell Twisted Death at 40 gold pieces a barrel, and also got a suite in the inn for a fifty gold piece “friendship fee”. The Demon tried to charge more money on top of that, but Reinhalt caught him in the lie.
In the room, the Party Detected Magic - the doors all had Alarm spells on them, and the mirror had some sort of Divination and Teleportation magic attached to it. Balbito removed the mirror into the hallway, and stood there while the rest of the Party discussed what to do next.
The Party members who were not guarding the cart went down to the common room, except Cal who took Silverpaw for a walk and used Speak with Animals to find out which room the Bone Naga ambassador was in. Silverpaw smelled “Dead, not dead” outside the Garden Suite. The Bishop joined himself, Dash-A, Balbito and Skippy by a telepathic link. (Balbito being the only party member who could speak Abyssal at the time.)
In the common room, there was a Greater Lamia forcibly seducing a waiter, a frog-like Demon (likely a slaver) counting money, the bartender and several Tiefling waiters. Balbito tried talking to the bartender to get information. The Bishop (who was disguised as a Tiefling), attempted to seduce one of the waiters, then used Suggestion to find out who was in each room.
Reinhalt went up the stairs, and was propositioned by the Greater Lamia (who had followed him), but managed to fend her off. He then turned himself Invisible, knocked on the Bone Naga's door, said the password, and entered. The Bone Naga gave him the information he required, upon receipt of the letter (The lock that the key opens is on the second layer of Pandemonium, at a place known as the Harmonica, in the largest and tallest of the columns, inside an old cube), but suddenly opened the door to reveal that the Lamia was listening in.
He told Reinhalt to flee, as the Lamia sounded the alarm, rushing downstairs and screaming “Spies, Traitors!”
The entire Party headed towards the Greenfire Gate to Fogtown.
Reinhalt flew out the window. Helga held off the Hezrou while Cal, in Polar Bear form, Silverpaw, and Toby rushed out the front door. Reinhalt Stone Shaped the wall of the tavern from the outside to open a small passage, through which the Bishop and Helga escaped. The Hezrou ran around and caught Helga outside the nearest exit, where Silverpaw, and Cal, being ridden by Toby, had just arrived.
She almost eviscerated the demon in one blow (ninety-two points of damage), before getting onto Silverpaw so that the entire party could flee. Bishop meanwhile cast Expeditious Retreat on himself, and everyone raced towards the gate to Fogtown.
Dash-A, Balbito, and Jeffrey the teamster found themselves trapped in the stables. Balbito escaped by running a bit and using his teleport boots. Dash-A tried to rescue Jeffrey but a Demon squashed the teamster's head. Dash-A flew and Balbito ran towards where Reinhalt had told them he would help them to safety. Meanwhile Reinhalt had gone back into Donat Sanp's room, done an Instant Search to find some extra documents (including a map of the Demonweb Pits), and then Polymorphed into a Red Dragon. He flew down and picked up Dash-A and Balbito, and flew them to the portal.
The Bishop got to the gate safely using a Major Image of a wall to slow down pursuit, and Cal used Ice Storm to slow down the Demons after them. Toby was almost killed by a Lightning Bolt; he fed a Fleetfoot potion to Cal to help their retreat, and healed himself after they got through the gate. Unfortunately, the Planeswalkers who had made it through the gate still had to deal with several Vrocks.
Once everyone was on the Fogtown side of the portal, Skippy recalibrated the it to lead to Curst, and most of the Party went through, but unfortunately the Bishop was stunned before he could make it. His lawyer, still in Dragon form, dragged him the last few feet into the gate. One Vrock managed to come with the Party through the portal.
(November 2018)
As Skippy jumped through her own portal, she was aware that Grazzt was aware of her presence, and was not pleased that she was tinkering with his city gate.
Although the Vrock was difficult to kill, due to its ability to cast Mirror Image at will, as well as Helga being weak from the Viper Tree, and most of the Party hanging back due to serious injuries, it was eventually defeated.
Helga went to drop off the Vrock corpse at the University of Planar Studies. They considered it a fairly common specimen but paid her seven hundred and fifty gold pieces for it. Dash-A went to the Foundry to warn them that they could be in danger because the the deal that he had tried to make with the cyanide barrels. They were not overly concerned, but thanked him.
The Bishop and Cal visited their girlfriends, and Balbito went back to the church. The Party later regrouped to visit Enial to let him know how it went. He was quite upset when Helga mentioned the Shadow Lord's name, and warned the party that they should watch their backs, because as they rose in power they would be on the Shadow Lord's radar as a threat to himself and his allies.
The Planeswalkers also remembered that they had two assassins potentially still after their heads, Jeb the Whisper Gnome (who had escaped from prison), and Adamok Ebon the Bladeling.
The next day, Cal warned his father and begged him to flee to safety somewhere, but his father felt he would be safe enough where he was.
Helga went to the market and asked after Jeffrey the teamster, who turned out to have no next of kin. She bought one more set of Paired Rings of Communication for the party. Later, the Bishop and Reinhalt went to meet Savrin, and gave her information about the Heist and various other things they had found or heard about. The Bishop sent some of his men on to Densel's Challenge in Ysgard, and to search for an Aasimar who was reportedly searching for him (Bishop Report 4)