December 2018-May 2019

The Party prepared to go to the Raazor Forge in Pazunia, the Abyss, in order to carry out their mission for the Church of Pelor to destroy the Ship of Chaos. They had already gathered a lot of knowledge about Pazunia in general from the recent fact finding mission to Broken Reach entry twenty eight).

The Bishop asked around to locate a place where explosives could be purchased, and Helga bought some Alchemist's fire, along with some Scrolls of Stick, and Everlasting Rations for most of the Party. The Bishop worked out a deal for the Great Foundry to supply Broken Reach with iron, netting a five thousand gold piece finder's fee. He also hired a pilot (Ricardo), hoping to steal the Ship of Chaos for his own.

Meanwhile, Reinhalt discovered that the Doomguard had inquired about the mysterious two-way portal to Pazunia that no one ever returns from, and that a group of them had travelled through it at noon of the same day. The plan to leave Sigil the following day was immediately scrapped in favor of leaving that night. The gate was located at a barbershop called T'Shads, owned by a human woman, Zelita. Cal and Balbito tipped her generously, and she promised to keep the door open– and thus the portal active– for as long as possible. The key is any rusty piece of iron.

On the other side, it was not night, but eternal noon. They found the place deserted, but upon hearing a scream, and searching the area, came across a Demon who had a a tail with a sentient snake on the end, who had apparently just finished slaughtering the entire party from the Armory. He had a Whisper Gnome, shackled, by his side.

The snake urged him to attack the Planeswalkers, saying he was responsible for guarding the gate, but he declined, being full and feeling lazy after eating the Doomguard party who had entered the gate hours earlier. Bal and Helga considered charging him, but Helga backed down at the last minute, realizing that he was probably too powerful for them, and was not interfering with their mission.

The Party continued towards the last know location of the Ship of Chaos. They made their way through a forest, with non-Good members of the Party scouting ahead to look for Viper Trees. After they emerged from the woods, they come to a vast hot plain, and in the distance they could see a lake of blood, and a fortress being attacked by lots of Tanar'ri. They veered to the left of the fortress (the lake being on its right side), and continued on.

They were attacked by some demon centaurs with armour grafted to their skin (Armanites). The Party dispatched most of them, but the Bishop charmed one, named Jecht, into being his “friend”. He was loud and obnoxious, and taunted by Balbito constantly. He said he and his companions had attacked the Party for fun.

The next two nights, Reinhalt made artificial caves with lookout points so that the Party could sleep in relative safety. Jecht got bored one night and galloped around until the Bishop went after him to convince him to go back. He told Jecht (truthfully) that he heard a buzzing noise. Jecht realized that they were small, fly-like demons(Chasme), who recruit for the Blood War. Jecht, terrified, agreed to return to the cave.

As the Planeswalkers were nearing Razor Forge, they saw a hundred-foot long bone ship flying towards them. Ricardo retracted his offer to pilot the ship, reconsidering and accepting again when the Bishop him an extra thousand gold.

The Planeswalkers saw the ship leaving Raazorforge and heading towards a Fortress a few hours “West” (to the “North” of the Party). The Party headed in the direction of the Fortress. They passed some refugees; the Bishop charmed one of them for information. He told us not to go near the ship because it could shoot fire out of its eyes, and make everyone fight each other.

As they drew near to the Fortress, they saw lots of people dead in the streets of the surrounding village. The ship was shooting beams and arrows out of its eyes and mouths (one on each side), then settled down on top of the Fortress (floating about 50 feet up). Cal went in Invisibly as an Eagle to check it out - he saw some Armanites torturing a Cambian, and then going off to loot. He also saw two bored looking Armanites on the deck of the ship. The Planeswalkers decided to fly up using “Sphere of Invisibility” - which the Bishop cast twice, once on himself and once on Dash-A.

Toby, Silverpaw, and Ricardo stayed behind and hid in the village. Dash-A and Eagle Cal flew up with Reihhalt and Helga - Reinhalt cast fly on Helga and himself, and also cast Invisibility on himself. The Bishop and Bal rode on Jecht, at Jecht's suggestion. Jecht went high up in to the air, whispered to the Bishop to hold on, and then started bucking in order to throw off Balbito. He threw off both Balbito and the Bishop, and then rushed to try to save the Bishop - however, he couldn't see him due to his being Invisible. Balbito teleported the last 40 feet, hoping to mitigate his injuries. He took a large amount of damage, and disappeared - in actuality, he had been teleported into a prison inside the hull of the ship. The prison also held an insane psychiatrist who thought that the three people he had tied up were delusional and believed themselves to be Razorvine. Only one of them (Curly) was alive. There was also a Human woman skulking in the back of the cage.

The Bishop, after Balbito assured him he could take care of himself, cast Featherfall on himself. The rest of the Party landed on the far end of the ship deck. After seeing Bal, the Armanites called a Baubau (slime) Demon, who pointed the Party out to them, and tried to dispel the Invisibility Sphere, but failed.

After a brief struggle, where the Party was surrounded and wounded, Helga flew down into the ship's hold, and the others followed her example. The Bishop used a Quaal's feather token and created an enormous tree to block the passage. In the hold, there were lots of animals, like scorpions, and other humanoid prisoners in cells, and large cell at one end with Balbito and the others inside.

Helga flew down one of the small holes on the far end of the ship, and found herself facing a bunch of Dretches manning ballistas, who turned to shoot at her/attack her. She then flew back out. Cal summoned a Greater Earth Elemental, which punched a hold in the hull right near the tree, and with the help of Helga, who flew up the next turn. They discovered it was made of Soul Larvae.

The Bishop cast Grease on the bars to help Balbito squeeze through. Skippy helped to unbind Curly, and he was also pulled through the greased bars. The insane doctor was killed by the woman while he was trying to pull Curly back. Curly shouted out to them that the ship had two brains ( or engines) - one in each skull.

Helga cut another hole in the hull, in the end of the ship behind the cage. The Party pushed Curly out of the ship with Feather fall, instructing Toby to come and save him. They then buffed up with some spells (Bulls Strength on Helga, Spider Climb on Balbito and the Bishop) before heading out of the hole, leaving the summoned Elemental to fight the Armanites who had broken through the tree.

Helga. Dash-A and Cal flew up and into the nose. Balbito, The Bishop, and Reinhalt flew in front of its face. Reinhalt broke a lense over one of the eyes, revealing a Cambion shooting some sort of weapon through it, and a Vrock in a floating throne. He attacked the Vrock, but it was impossible to hit or damage it - it appeared to be some sort of illusion. Two Armanites flew down to attack him and the other two, so he went full defensive to defend the weaker members.

Reinhalt and the Bishop sneaked past the fight and into some passageways in a hole leading down behind the eye (this passageway later met up with the ones that Helga and the others were in). They found some Dretches with missiles for the eye weapon (which Reinhalt killed).

Helga and the others wound their way through a maze of small passages in the nose, passing some more Dretches on the way, which Cal incinerated. They found some small circular passages leading up and down, similar to the ones that Helga had found earlier that led to the mouth. Dash-A tried to go into the hole that led downward and got stuck. Frustrated, Helga flew half way out again before being told that the brain was not in the eye either. She then returned to the hole, where Cal was helping to push Dash-A through.

In the eye tunnels, the Bishop met and attacked a Babau demon (the master of the ship), the slime of which melted his sword. He then charmed it, after which it told the Bishop that the brain of the ship was behind an illusory wall in the eye chamber. The demon then shook off the charm, and stabbed the Bishop from behind when was heading up the ladder to the chamber that holds the brain.

Helga got word of the location of the brain through the ring, and flew out of the upper hole in the nose, to the upper part of the jaw, which had a gravity shifted in that area so that more Dretches could shoot ballista bolts from it. She flew past them and started a battle with the Armanites, with help from Cal and Dash-A, who had managed to get free from the hole. She then broke the other eye socket, and went in to kill the Cambion.

Bal went ahead and killed the Babau. Bishop and Reinhalt found the brain behind the illusory wall. It released spores on them which went into their skin and started causing damage. Skippy started to plant the explosives.

After killing the Armanites, Helga and Reinhalt teleported to the other side of the ship. Skippy set off the explosives at about that time, and the ship started flying as fast as possible to the “East” (back where the party had come from), so everyone had to hold on or get left behind. Helga climbed up the face on the other side and broke into an eye.

In the other head, There were 4 Armanites and a Cambion. Helga dispatched the Cambion, and Reinhalt Webbed most of the Armanites and Suggested that one run away. Bishop, Cal and Balbito started to make their way across the deck to us. Bishop also Suggested that a fifth Armanite run away. Reinhalt breathed Dragon Breath on the web on the hole to clear it, and Helga flew up, through the illusionary wall, and destroyed the other brain. Then the entire Party flew off the ship before it crashed, with three Armanites still stuck in the web falling to their death, along with all of the caged creatures.

They then started the two kilometer walk back to where Toby, Silverpaw and the others were.

As they were walking back, Toby said through the ring that Curly had been searching the courtyard, and had found a key; he was insistent on looking for treasure without regards to the danger. Helga and Reinhalt teleported ahead, and Reinhalt intimidated Curly into giving him the key (he was an invisible dragon at the time).

They waited for the rest of the Party to catch up, then took a vote and decided to search the fortress for treasure. They saw a Babau demon looking out of a window, but it didn't seem to cause them trouble.

They found a room with a large, magical door, and a flattened Armanite lying dead in the room. The spellcasters of the group studied the situation, then cast Dispel Magic. The Bishop then took the key and went forward, but didn't trust it, so started to use the key-ring of Olidammara instead. Balbito was also there. Helga, fearful that the Dispel would run out, came into the room, took the key and opened the door. Something triggered at that time, and those who could see magic saw a wall around both entrance-ways. They tried to cast Dispel Magic again, but it had no effect. Suddenly, Helga was attacked from behind by an invisible assailant.

Reinhalt cast a scroll of See Invisible, but could only see a cloudy shape. He determined it was an Invisible Stalker. Helga quickly dispatched it with a lucky blow. However, the Force Cage that was surrounding the small room lasted for fourteen more hours. Not everyone could teleport, so they had to stay inside for the duration.

They heard something creeping up the stairs, but it ran away when it realized the party was aware of it's presence. The Bishop had his Invisible Servant pass them treasure through the bars of the cage, and they put it into Reinhalt's Bag of Holding.

When they were finally released, the Party headed across the land to Broken Reach, determining it to have the safest portal back to Sigil. They camped in artificial stone caves made by Reinhalt's Stone Shape, as usual. The first night their sleep was interrupted by a Bodak, which they slew without much trouble. The next night, they spotted a Roc and twelve Vrocks coming towards them; the party decided to hide for a day until they were out of sight. Later they met with some Lizardfolk riding lizard mounts. Cal cast a spell and intimidated them enough that they surrendered to us. The Bishop asked them for information about the nearest portal to Sigil, and had a lengthy conversation with them, under the guise of being merchants.

Finally, the Party reached the River Styx. A Demon Lord and his minions (two Vrock) roared out a challenge, which Balbito responded to with insults. The Party fought them; Dash-A managed to do considerable damage against a Vrock with his Holy Surge weapon, and and Reinhalt tore into the other as a Gold Dragon. Helga hurt the Lord greatly, so that it teleported away and used Mirror Image to confound the Party. Balbito then finished it off with Holy Storm.

The party rested after facing the Demon Lord, and then continued along their way to Broken Reach. They met another party by a bridge to the river Styx consisting of a Minotaur, a Thri-Kreen, a robed woman and another man. They said that word had reached Broken Reach that the Ship had been destroyed, and various factions were attempting to claim Razor Forge as their own, including Red Shroud, who had sent out the Roc that passed us earlier.

While they were talking, the man gestured for the woman to go back and get a poster which had been hanging on the bridge. The man was staring intently at Skippy. When asked what the poster was, they replied that it was some sort of safety ward they had used to help them across the bridge. The Bishop discerned he was lying.

Both groups carried on, the Party heading up to the bridge and discovering that there was a 15 foot gap in the middle. Reinhalt, flying, used Stone Shape to repair the bridge. The Bishop was going to suggest summoning his Giant Bee to ferry everyone across without having to go near the water when Bal, feeling that it was now safe, began to cross.

A tentacle emerged from the water and attempted to drag him in. Knocking it back, he tried to hurry across, but was stung by it, resulting in a horrible effect: his entire body started to melt and become gelatinous, rendering him not able to use any of his equipment, and barely able to walk. Helga charged the tentacle monster and nearly finished it off in one blow. The Bishop then used Power Word Disable to render it unconscious, and Bal was hurried to the safety of the other side.

Unfortunately, his condition seemed to be getting worse, and the only one who could reliably reverse it was Bal himself, who was of course incapable of such feats at the moment. Cal hurriedly searched through Bal's pack for a scroll of Restoration (which the Party had receieved from the Church of Pelor), but being unable to cast it, passed it off to the Bishop, who luckily had some skill in using Magic Items not familiar to him, was able to read it and restore Bal to normal.

The group headed a few more miles before resting in a Stone-Shaped shelter. In the middle of the “night”, a sickening smell of blood suddenly flooded the shelter, and just as suddenly ceased. Skippy, who was on watch, declared her intention of going outside to see what it was, despite Helga's warnings that she might be in danger, and proceeded to fly off into the distance, back towards the bridge. Helga yelled for the Bishop (and everyone else) to wake up.

They all ran outside. Reinhalt teleported the Bishop and Helga and himself near Skippy. The Bishop cast Hold Monster on her, and she plummeted to the ground, before being caught by Helga. They proceeded to tie her up and bring her back to camp. Helga, looking at the bridge, noticed that the party from before was waiting on the other side, and that the bridge itself seemed to be gone, although it was hard to tell much from such a distance.

The Planeswalkers decided to deal with the other party before they could attempt any more harm to Skippy. The Party was not sure whether to trust Curly, due to his reckless behaviour when left alone with Toby. After talking with him, and giving him a black opal out of a crown they had found, he seemed less paranoid that they would cheat him of his treasure, and to have a more positive view of the Party (other than Reinhalt).

The Party cast some spells to help them fight before Reinhalt teleported Dash-A and the Bishop to the other side of the bridge. Unfortunately, his teleport spell did not go as planned, and they found themselves several miles away from where they had intended to be. As Reinhalt did not have enough spells to transport the entire Party, the attempt was aborted and everyone returned to the cave to sleep.

The next morning, the Bishop disguised the party as best he could as a merchant and his bodyguards, before they finally arrived at Broken Reach. To get into town, they had to pass through a gate guarded by some Vrock and a giant guardian demon. The Vrock saw through Helga's disguise, but were placated with some platinum from the Bishop, which they proceeded to fight over. The party made it through the gate and arrived back in Sigil without further trouble.

Curly headed his own way, with the opal and the Bishop's offer of aid should he need it, through Savryn. The Party then split up, and attended to their own business in Sigil.

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