Tiefling One-Shot

The Tiefling One-Shot or the Tiefling Game was a one-shot that involved a group of tieflings, gathered by Xelbari, searching for the missing Belxari. It occurred simultaneously with sessions 47 and 48. 
== Summary ==
The party had been called to the Slick Shackles, a secret underground bar beneath Wolis. Each of the members had received a letter, too knowledgeable and detailed to be a stranger, promising their heart's desire or a pressing concern. 
The barkeep Aganra brought another round and a children's menu for Sors. They discovered that the menu had a winking tiefling face drawn on the back of the menu, along with a note. The note requested that they meet their employer at a secondary location, providing a map. As the party stood to leave, the floor beneath them opened and they were dropped and teleported to another location. They found themselves in a booth in Life is Pain. Standing at the head of the table was Xelbari. He told them he had hired them to embark on a dangerous mission to investigate a crime scene and rescue a damsel in distress. In payment, he would help them achieve their desires. He introduced himself then as Xelbari, a lord of hell and maybe the god of tieflings. When questioned about that, he explained that he helped kill Asmodeus and absorbed some of his essence, inheriting the contract that formed tieflings in the first place.
He then led them to the broom closet in Life is Pain and, after a failed attempt, led them to his office. He passed everything and approached another door in the room. He struggled with it for several moments, talking to it to convince it to open for him. Giving up, he cast on it, and a portal opened and the gathered party rushed through. 
The party found themselves on the stage of an empty and ruined theatre. The seats and curtains had been torn and burned, a multitude of items — gems, jewelry, weapons, art, oddments, containers — littered the floor, and a silver scimitar was stabbed into the stage. Ecostress cast and was immediately blinded due to the sheer number of magical items that were pinging. 
Clarity used their Wand of Secrets to find a trap door in the stage. Vaselyn pulled the scimitar out of the floorboards and swung it around, finding it to be a strictly ornamental, poorly-made weapon. Clint recognized it as one used by the Gith, a race of pirates from the Astral Sea. Sors took the sword and used one of her abilities to look into the past involving the weapon. She watched as a group of Gith pirates entered the theatre, already in its destroyed state, and attempted to loot it. They were interrupted by cloaked figures hiding in the room. The Gith fled, losing one of their swords in the process, but escaping through a portal created by another of the swords. 
They continued to poke about the ruins of the theatre and found one of the cloaked men in the rubble. He declared that he was glad she was gone and hoped that she was vaporized. He suggested the party follow the pirates to figure out how they found them, then dropped a on the group. Finding no further information, they decided to take the man's suggestion and used the sword to pursue the pirates. 
The party appeared on the deck of a silver airship on the Astral Sea. Sailors working under the watch of several Gith noticed them and, when asked for information regarding their mission, opted to attack them instead. The party drew their weapons, prepared to lay waste to the ship. The captain emerged and cast , paralyzing Clint and Ecostress. Vaselyn attacked the captain, recommending she release her party members so they could ask their questions and leave. The captain refused, and combat continued. After killing over half of the crew, the captain called for the surrender of her crew.
The captain explained that they had encountered a dragon with many wings recently and had followed it back to where it came from. They had found the theatre in that way, already ruined, and decided to loot it. They were interrupted by cultists. The party determined to follow the way the dragon was going, assuming them to have taken Xelbari's sister. The captain, finding themselves risking death if they didn't agree, agree to take them in that direction. 
Over the next two or so days of travel, the party got to know each other a little. Vaselyn explained that she was looking for her baby brother who had been missing for a few weeks. Ecostress hoped to find a solution to her malfunctioning arms, which were unstable but tend to react poorly to her rage. Clint wished to hunt down and kill the thief who stole his first robot dog. Sors was looking for a dragon she spoke to that assisted her; he gave her a fang and claw which she used as weapons. Clarity wanted to protect her son, an adventurer who was a bit too reckless for her comfort. 
There was an explosion, and the captain told the party it was time to leave. The ship did a barrel roll, and the party was flung from the ship onto a nearby island in the Astral Sea. On the island were several cultists, launching spells at the ship. Clint cast on the party, allowing them to descend safely to the land. 
Clarity cast Darkness on the enemies; Sors cast Fireball, missing slightly due to being blind; Ecostress ejected her arms toward an enemy; Clint shot at one of the cultists. Hedemora, dragon priest of Nox, stood in the Darkness at the entrance to the cave on the island and cast in the general direction of the party. 
The party landed and melee combat began. Hedemora said it was good to see Sors again and attacked her. Sors explained that he was the one who had caused the wounds on her arms and legs, then sprinted in toward him to attack him. Ecostress and Clarity joined her, surrounding and attacking Hedemora. Vaselyn also approached, granting the party radiant damage through Crusader's Mantle. Sors cast Enlarge on Ecostress, who used her increased size to continue the assault on Hedemora. Suddenly concerned for his safety, wished his fellow cultists luck and used Plane Shift to escape the battle. 
The party finished killing the rest of the cultists, barring one mage who turned invisible and fled. Sors collapsed in tears, and the party pausesd to recollect themselves and calm her. Vaselyn used her inspiring leader feat to provide temporary hit points. As Sors calmed down, she spotted a raven. She spoke to the raven, confusing the party. The raven descended to the cave entrance and appeared to be a humanoid wearing a raven skull mask. He lamented that Belxari had not died, but recommended that if they intend to save her, to move quickly. Sors urged the party on, and as they passed where the figure stood, the party heard the figure cursing tieflings. 
The party entered the cave and found that one wall of the tunnel they were in was actually a dragon. Sors realizes that it was Akaros and was excited to finally meet her hero. They eventually made it to a larger chamber, filled mostly with Akaros. In the center of the chamber was a pile of treasure, upon which was a stoppered jar with a glowing golden light within it. Sors used Detect Thoughts to try to speak with Akaros, but found no thoughts within. Ecostress and Vaselyn approached the pile of treasure. Curious about the jar, they opened it and the mist inside flowed out. It reformed into Belxari, injured and weak from the ordeal that resulted in her being trapped in a jar. 
In response to Sors' concern, Belxari said that the body was not Akaros. In that moment, the dragon awoke and released his breath weapon. Belxari protected the party as best she could, and the party was Plane Shifted to Oceanside. They fell through the sky and spotted an unnaturally tall woman who looked up and cast Feather Fall to catch them. They suddenly fell into darkness and appeared once more in Life is Pain. Xelbari offered his payment to everyone — a scroll to summon her brother for Vaselyn, having met Clint who might repair Ecostress's arms, the address of the one who stole Clint's dog, protection for Clarity's son, and he teleported Sors back to Oceanside with Belxari to meet Akaros. Concerned and upset, Ecostress traded her payment for teleport back to Oceanside, that she might find Sors and ensure her safety. Xelbari agreed and teleported her to the side of an ocean — one on the moon. Xelbari then appeared and remarked that it was a joke and teleported her to her home in Oceanside. The others departed Life is Pain with their payment. 
Lei and Teer debated whether to follow after Kiono, who has gone to catch the falling tieflings. Akaros pointed out that it was his breath weapon they were being attacked by, and that it would be best if they followed Kiono. Thusly motivated, Renn wheeled Teer and Squire after Kiono. 
== NPCs ==
=== Introduced ===
* Clarity - Mastermind Rogue - played by Patch
* Clint - Artificer - played by Steak
** Oreo, his mechanical dog
* Lady Ecostress (courtier in Oceanside) - Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian - played by Hollis
* Sors - Cleric of Destruction - played by V (guest player) 
* Lady Vaselyn - Paladin of Conquest - played by Pickle
=== Returning ===
* Xelbari
* Alan
* Hedemora
* Akaros
* Belxari