Chains of Command

"Chains of Command" is the 85th session of the Legend of the Leaves campaign.
It took place in the Mystilon Promises questline of Arc 5: Dead Souls Rising.
==Synopsis==
Returning to the eastern part of Mystilon, the Leaves investigate what happened to the city, and decide to go down to Avernus to help Lulu with her quest to find Zariel's sword.
=Story Development=
==Part 1==
The Leaves leave Corellon Citadel and head with Lulu to the safe part of Mystilon. They meet Rowarin on their way, as she is returning from Avernus and her daily Styx water route. Rowarin is visibly beaten up and explains to them that she was attacked by flying devils near the chain, where she usually has no problem climbing down to the river.
As they talk to her, she realizes that they found out something about Eleonora having to do with Mystilon's descent into Avernus. She is furious and demands answers. However, the Leaves keep her in the dark. She storms off to the Emerald bridge, where Illon Tusk opens the force field to let them all inside the city.
Entering the eastern part of the city, the Leaves notice all the refugees from the Corellon Citadel, as well as many others being quarantined from the rest of the population. The party splits and investigates in groups across the city.
===Raijin===
Raijin notices among the refugees a male pandaren drinking water. On hand of his severely damaged clothing Raijin concludes he is a merchant of some sort stemming from Kara-Tur.
As he approaches him, the pandaren gets up and throws himself in front of Raijin's feet, exclaiming to be his royal subject Limbao Hyue.
Raijin tells him to get up and that there is no need for him to worship him. Limbao complies and gets up. He informs Raijin that he thought that Raijin, the lost prince, was presumed dead by everyone. Limbao is visibly relived that not to be the case, but then starts asking him questions about his intentions to get revenge on the Kai dynasty, which wronged his family.
When Raijin tells him that he does not seek any revenge right now and that he is still preparing, Limbao seems disappointed. He tells Raijin that a lot of his loved ones died defending Tabot, and that Raijin's rather laid-back attitude towards that matter is insulting. Raijin explains to him that he was regrouping in the past seven years, trying to recruit warriors who would help him revenge his family.
Limbao is visibly not pleased with this answer. Raijin, noticing his demeanor, accuses him of being a coward himself by leaving his loved ones in Tabot to die. Limbao shocked and tells him that he left long before the fall of Tabot, like many other citizens, in order to trade with other nations across the continent. 
The interaction ends awkwardly by Limbao leaving disjointedly Raijin and returning to his bench.
===Darius and Bambara===
Bambara heads south to the well where Rowarin delivers the water to. He strikes up a conversation, which Rowarin immediately dismisses and tells him that she is not a puppet of Eleonora, like they were. Bambara inquires about how she manages to get down to Avernus, but to no avail. Rowarin continues quietly to pour the water into the well.
Darius arrives and talks to Bambara for a bit before approaching Rowarin.
He bluntly tells her that he does not care about Eleonora and Mistylon, and that he only wants to find a way down. After a small back and forth, Rowarin agrees to show them her way down the chains, but warns them that, although there are fewer troops in the city, there are many more guards by the exit now. She tells them to meet in the morning by the Emerald bridge.
===Lorilon and Malcer===
Lorilon and Malcer visit Lorilon's home and want to talk to Eleonora about what they found out. After entering the house, they are greeted by Lorilon's brother Kovilon, who asks Lorilon if he used his invention, the Paraglider. Lorilon tells him how he used it in a battle and that it saved him a couple of times. Kovilon is extatic and points them upstairs to where Eleonora is.
As the two Leaves enter Eleonora's study, they see Qinren Dewshine and Eleonora going over the map of Mystilon, strategizing about what they accomplished so far in securing the city and retrieving refugees.
Lorilon gets straight to the point and Malcer throws the registry of names they found in the Citadel on the table. Qinren takes this as his cue to leave. Eleonora starts by explaining that she only did what had to be done, but Lorilon is tiered of her motherly bullshit and demands to get answers. Eleonora tells them then the following information:
*After Mystilon was established, they had a lot of enemies from surrounding tribes and cities, since the Dawn of Vecna campaign as in full swing.
*Not being able to fend off the attacks, Eleonora convinced Lorilon's father Siglon to join the council of the city, so he can give his input as well.
*After a few months of constant attacks, Eleonora suggested that they bargain with the demon lord Baphomet to protect the city.
*The council agreed, and a deal was made: in return for protecting the city by giving Mystilon the recipe for Delirium, a demon portal will be established to the Abyss, from where demons could enter the Material Plane.
*When Mystilon successfully defended itself and established a stronger army, a lot of children from the surrounding area started to go missing.
*The council feared that this bad would be bad for Mystilon, as everybody would trace the kidnappings back to the demon portal.
*Eleonora decided to propose luring Baphomet into the basement of the chapel in the graveyard and seal the portal and the demon lord shut. Doing this would technically mean that no one from Mystilon violated their deal with the demons, and that the portal would cause no further harm.
*With the help of an undisclosed power, Eleonora managed to trap the demon lord in the basement of the chapel, where he remained until the Leaves killed him.
At this point of the conversation, Eleonora asked Lorilon if he was the one who killed Baphomet. When Lorilon said that he didn't kill the demon, Eleonora was relieved, as this meant that the bargain was not violated by anyone from Mystilon. She then informs him that she didn't tell him about it, so the intentions for those who killed them were not be linked to violating the bargain.
She then continues to explain the following:
*After a few decades of peace, Mystilon grew into a noticeable and established power in this part of the Sword Coast.
*The brewing of Delirium was forbidden, and the recipe was locked away as a shameful part of the city's history.
*However, a goblin alchemist and one of Vecna's former generals by the name of Vates the Sorrowful got wind of Mystilon and that it harbors the recipe for Delirium.
*Vates was recruiting a new army to reestablish his former commander's glory and take over the Material Plane.
*Vates' army attacked Mystilon and got his hands on the recipe, forcing the city to brew it in the Duskwalker brewery.
*For days, the goblin alchemist delivered kids of all races and creeds to the city from Zhentil Keep.
*However, Siglon refused to participate and was killed by one of Vates' lieutenants by the name Taran.
*Eleonora then decided to contact the same entity she contacted when she made the deal with the demons. However, this time, she inquired about making a deal with devils.
*She got her way, but only under the condition to make a list of all the souls of Mystilon being promised to Asmodeus after they died.
*Thanks to the rest of the council, she got almost all the names of the citizens while being under siege from Vates' army.
*The names were sealed away into an infernal box, kept in the ninth layer of Hell.
*Asmodeus kept his promise and sent his devil army, who fought off Vates' army.
*Mystilon was saved once more, for a price.
*During this fight, Milindara, Dolon and Lorilon were lured or sent out of the city under false pretenses, since Eleonora didn't write their names into the contract.
*A few days later, a sphere materialized above Mystilon, caputing the entire city and dragging it into Avernus.
*The sphere was not part of the deal with Asmodeus and Eleonora doesn't know what happened.
After dumping all of this information on Lorilon, Malcer chips in and tells her that they found a way to get Mystilon back to the Material Plane. However, he also tells her that he does not see a reason to do this.
Eleonora tells Malcer that she does not expect him to do anything. Malcer realizes at this moment that the bargain with the demons led to the destruction of his hometown. He pulls out a dagger and dangles it through his hand. Eleonora seems nervous, but tries to keep her composure. Malcer puts the dagger away and leaves the room.
Relieved, Eleonora tells Lorilon that she does not expect to help and would understand if he does not. Before Lorilon leaves, she tells him that he really has surrounded himself with great allies, pointing towards the door where Malcer left.
==Part 2==
After resting in the school for the night, the Leaves make their way with Rowarin towards the chains.
As they arrive, Rowarin alerts them of the flying devils guarding the chain, and tells them that there are a bunch of them. The leaves try to come up with a plan, while Rowarin gives her input on everything that could go wrong.
The flying devils notice a commotion after a few minutes and start to investigate. The party hides, but is spotted by one of the devils, who then scatter away. A great shadow blocks the light from above, and the party sees a large white abishai riding an ancient red dragon.
The Leaves consider wether to attack or sneak by them, while Rowarin is baffled by the mere thought of attacking an ancient red dragon. After hiding for a few minutes in the streets of Mystilon, the ancient red dragon tells them to come forth since he can smell them.
Darius comes out and starts talking to the abishai and the dragon, who introduce themselves as Sawant and Storax. The rest of the party then, one by one, also approaches. As they talk to the two of them, they are asked why their smell has been on the scene of where Yeenoghu was injured.
They tell Storax that they almost killed him and that they also killed Baphomet, to which Storax and Sawant laugh. Lorilon takes out Baphomet's horns as proof, and the abishai and the dragon fall silent.
They seem delighted to meet such strong warriors and purpose to come with them for a mission, but only after a short test of their skill.
The fight begins, and Sawant tells Storax to give them a chance by not flying. Storax agrees and blasts the party with his breath weapon.
Halfway through the fight, Sawant says "Enough!" and says that they've seen enough. He sheaths his sword and proposes to end the fight. Darius, however, goes for a blow against Storax, binding him to the ground.
Sawant is killed, and Darius' relentless barrage of blows opens up the opportunity for the rest of the party to kill the dragon.
As Lulu and Rowarin come out of hiding, they see the party looting the abishai. Rowarin cannot believe her eyes, while Lulu touches the dragon and says a little prayer.
==Part 3==
Using their opportunity, the party storms towards the chains, chased by foot soldier devils and flying fiends. 
As they make their way down the chains, following Rowarin's exact moves, they are attacked by devils who are making their way up the chain. In the distance, the party hears the devil and demon armies fighting, while Roarin tells them to jump when she jumps. As they do so, they land in a dead gelatinous cube near the river Styx.
Rowarin points them to Fort Knucklebone and tells them that they should keep an eye out for a traveler with a skeleton horse. She then makes her way to the river Styx to do her duty in getting water, after telling the party that she misjudged them for what they are, and that they restored faith in the chance of saving Mystilon.
The party travels to Fort Knucklebone and comes across Axpie, a horned devil traveler with his wings cut-off who sells seemingly empty bottles for a high price. When everybody from the party, except Bambara, buys one, they experience someone else's experience for a moment, instantly forgetting it. After consuming the content of the bottle, they receive experience in a 1:100 ratio to gold pieces they spend.
Axpie informs them that they can call on him every time they travel between two locations in Avernus.
After one hour, the party arrives at the gates of Fort Knucklebone, where they see two kenku open the giant gates from which a gargantuan infernal vehicle emerges and speeds into the distance of Avernus, leaving behind a trail of hellish dust. Lulu recognizes the kenku and hides behind Malcer, telling him that those are the two kenku that drowned her.
The two kenku look at the party and recognize Lulu. One of them exclaims, with a happy voice imitating the sound of a toddler: "Look, it's Lulu. She's alive!"
=Featured Characters=
==Leaves==
*Lorilon Duskwalker
*Darius Lonewalker
*Malcer Lynk Hornraven
*Raijin Shou Ho
*Bambara Grimmgrin
==New==
*Limbao Hyue
*Storax
*Sawant
*Axpie
==Returning==
*Lulu
*Rowarin Flanna
*Eleonora Duskwalker
*Kovilon Duskwalker
*Qinren Dewshine
==Mentioned==
*Siglon Duskwalker
*Taran