90. The Jailer

* Aerendyl, Clwyd, Pyt, and Wilfred are deep within the infernal prisons of the Bagrellan Estate. They have freed the fire giant prisoner from the forge and retreated into Zadimus the vampire's private cell, where they intend to bar the door and rest while the giant breaks the vampire's chains. Thereafter, all of them will fight and flee from the estate. 
* Taking advantage of the moment's respite and very conscious of her powerlessness in an environment as hostile as the Nine Hells, Clwyd conducted a seance with the spirit of the witch Phigalia that she had trapped within the fox skull she carries. 
** The two struck a deal: for a year and a day, Clwyd would borrow knowledge of Weird Magic from the witch; not so much of the malevolent knowledge as to kill Clwyd, but enough to bridge the gaps between -- and take advantage of -- the progress she'd made with Hellfire Pact Magic and the power to manipulate the Weave once more. 
** In exchange, Clwyd agreed to allow Phigalia to possess her body, from a moment of her choosing, for twice the time Clwyd borrowed the knowledge; that is to say, two years and two days. Further, there was an exchange of questions three, though Phigalia only asked one of her entitled questions for the time being. 
** Pyt had already set up his drum-yurt and was busy inside it during the goblin's negotiation, but the rest of the party, Zadimus, the fire giant, and Ilphas, all present in the cell, heard Clwyd's side of the conversation.
** When the seance concluded, the Weird Magic began to flood into Clwyd's head and she started screaming and thrashing from the invasive, relentless, oily wrongness of it. The cell rang with her screams and she clawed and scratched her fingernails bloody against the metal and stone for a long time. 
** When at last Clwyd quieted, Zadimus made a few glib quips but she wasn't keen to talk about what she'd just been through so she mostly ignored him. Aerendyl and Wilfred both tried getting her to talk, the pair more concerned with what she'd traded and agreed to than Zadimus ever would be. Still though, Clwyd refused to give them concrete answers.
** Aerendyl, Clwyd, and Wilfred retreated to the privacy of Pyt's drum-yurt, leaving the giant working on Zadimus's chains -- a job that was looking like it would take as long as their rest would at the minimum. 
** In the hut, the party continue to press Clwyd for the details of her deal but she refuses to answer with any specifics, even keeping the nature of what she's gained from her conversation close to her chest. This eventually gets heated, but the goblin digs her heels in and refuses to yield beyond saying that she was ready and able to fight again. Wilfred can't help but ponder what Clwyd could possibly have that Phigalia could want in exchange for such gifts. 
** The group reluctantly agree that they need to move the conversation onto areas more productive than trying to pry the truth from the stubborn goblin. They work on their plan for escape: first and foremost, they needed rest, then Aerendyl would wind walk all of them and Pyt and Wilfred together would turn them invisible. They'd slip through the jail as quickly as possible and making use of Wilfred's telepathic bond again, they'd leave via the imp holes that they came in through. A simple plan with many places for error, but they decided it was the best they had given the circumstances. 
** Wilfred and Aerendyl leave the hut to go tell Zadimus and the giant their plan, leaving Clwyd and Pyt alone in the hut. Clwyd takes the moment to confide some of the truth of her situation with Pyt: she tells him that the deal she's made involves her being possessed and that she got powers and knowledge in return, saying that she isn't a great negotiator and might have got the shorter end of the deal. In either case, she wants Pyt to be ready for her to be possessed and to take her down if it happens. 'If it happens and I turn on you lot, don't go for the charm,' she tells him. 
* The group begins their nervous rest inside Zadimus's cell. They rest in shifts and manage to finish unmolested. Pyt knows there's about 30 minutes left on his drum-yurt, which is what's keeping the doors to the cell barred closed.
** Clwyd, head now clearer and witch knowledge assimilated, plucks out some of her hair and spends 15 minutes twisting and weaving it into a humanoid-shaped doll-like figure, a witch totem. She gives it to Wilfred to hold onto, telling him it will help in a number of ways. 
** As they do so, the giant has broken all but two of the chains binding Zadimus. The vampire is excitedly pelvic thrusting and kicking his freed legs about while still bound around the upper chest and neck. 
** Aerendyl goes out the hut and spares the giant the remaining work by using the party's chime of opening to free the remaining two chains. 
** Zadimus gets off the bed, stretches and cracks his neck, and then bites Ilphas's neck and drinks deeply of the elf's blood. 
* And so to the escape plan.
** Pyt can't leave his hut without it disappearing. They ask the giant to be ready to slip her hand in the way and hold the doors shut when the hut disappears. She nods and does so, but the doors undeniably shift a small amount before she can press them closed again -- as if something from outside had been pushing in. The giant throws her weight against the door. 
** Aerendyl gets wind walk cast on all of them. 
** Wilfred gets several minutes into his ritual casting of telepathic bond.
** But then the floor erupts as a massive lava bulette leaps up through the floor and into the room. Lava pools in through the hole left by the burrowing creature. 
** The group frantically attack the bulette as it burrows around the room, rapidly creating more holes that lava starts seeping in through. Some of the group suffer the intense heat just from standing close to the stuff. 
** Soon after, six imps flow into the room through the lava holes. They cry out in Infernal that the prisoners are free and begin attacking the party and their allies. They focus a lot of their efforts on the fire giant, trying to get her to waver in holding the door shut. She weathers their attacks without faltering. 
** Clwyd manifests some magic reminiscent of her old abilities. However, there are differences noticeable to those with a keen eye: her eldritch blasts appear to have something of a gravity to them, attracting broken rock and shingle as they fly.
** The party are able to put down the imps with relative ease and they scare off the bulette by hurting it a fair amount, but it's already too late. There are too many holes in the floor and too much lava pouring in. They'll be swallowed by it in a matter of minutes. 
** Reluctantly, they steel themselves to open the doors and fight their way out. 
* The party and their allies arrange themselves by the doors of Zadimus's cell, ready to fight their way out this prison.
** The fire giant moves to the side and stops holding the doors. They immediately swing open from the forceful, relentless pushing of two merregon devils on the other side. 
** Behind the pushing merregons are two hell hounds, which each release gouts of fire from their mouths -- paying no heed to the merregons since they are immune to the flames anyway. This torrent of fire is met by the combined force of a cone of cold spell from Aerendyl and Ilphas both. The eladrin duo win out in the exchange and the somewhat dampened spell effect sweeps over both merregons and hell hounds. 
** The group then fight their way down the narrow corridor. The constant advancement of the lava behind them forces them to advance. Wilfred makes headway with his ever faithful, ever effective pliable summons, Clwyd unleashes repeated eldritch blasts and eventually a synaptic static into the midst of the merregons waiting in the opening on the other side of the corridor, Pyt makes use of the offensive spells he can cast from his viol, and Zadimus successfully charms several of the devils, turning them against each other. 
** All seems to be going quite well for the group, considering the circumstances, until a fireball erupts in the middle of the narrow corridor, having been cast from somewhere outside it. Four more imps follow the spell and attack the group as well. 
** Meanwhile, the fire giant can do little more than wait in the cell. Though the lava does not bother her, she is too large to fit through the corridor the party are fighting their way down. 
** The group eventually force their way to the corridor's corner, such that its entrance and the forge beyond are directly in front of them now. The lava continues to advance, spilling from the cell and slowly moving down the corridor as well.
** In total, they faced 6 merregons, two hell hounds, and four imps. Only a few merregons remained, steadfastly holding the entrance of the corridor. 
** But the true danger waited in the forge. A chain devil was there for one thing, whipping up several of the chains that hung from the ceiling to attack the party in their fortified corner of the corridor, locking down each one that it successfully strikes. But beyond that, the caster of the fireball spell was also present, closing in on the group: the jailer, a blubbery, obese amnizu devil. 
** The amnizu used the remaining merregons as a meat shield and attacked the group. With a two-fingered pointing gesture, it wracked the minds of Pyt and Wilfred, wounding them deeply and blinding them for good measure. Then it struck with its whip, dealing huge damage to everyone it hit with the thing. After this, it reached out ominously with its free hand, but Clwyd had manifested some of her new magic, a greater invisibility spell, and was able to evade the attack.
** The amnizu was among the most deadly and cruel creatures the party have ever faced. It was hard to hit with any attack, hard to target with spells, and its own attacks were merciless. The outlook was bleak for the group. 
** But then the comeback!
** First, Zadimus burst forth from the midst of the group, showing himself to be a frighteningly fast creature. He greeted his old torturer with gleeful scorn, struck out with his claws in a fluffy, and managed to grab hold firmly enough to drag the fat devil around the corner, preventing it from targeting too many of the party with its powerful attacks. 
** Next, Pyt, having shuck off his blindness, looked back to the fire giant. She made a small flapping motion with her hands and nodded to him. Pyt nodded back and polymorphed her into a hummingbird. She buzzed down the corridor, burst around the corner, dove into a small rivulet of lava beside the Jailer, breaking the polymorph spell with the damage, and emerged like a fiery god to join Zadimus in attacking their old tormentor. 
** Third, Wilfred and Clwyd cleaned up the merregons for good; the former using his self-derived Syphon Life spell to drain their vitality and distribute some of it to his allies, the latter getting a lot of mileage out of her greater invisibility.
** Fourth, when even after all that, things were looking grim due to the sheer amount of damage done by the amnizu and the continuing worried presence of the chain devil, Aerendyl used a mass cure wounds spell to stop several of them from dying there and then.
** The amnizu looked unconcerned about the vampire grappling it, for the time being at least. It turned to the fire giant and cast dominate monster, turning her on the group. 
** Under the compulsion of the devil's spell, the giant suddenly represented a massive threat. She made two massive swings with her forge hammer before Wilfred eventually dispelled the malevolent effect.
** Pyt polymorphed into a giant ape and focused his attention on the chain devil, eventually killing it.
** The amnizu unleashed another fireball, one of the only things it could do from its position to keep hurting all the party at the same time. 
** But after that, with it as the only threat left, the attacks fell on the creature like rain. 
** Still, it wasn't quite finished yet. 
** Ape-Pyt made to throw a massive iron ingot at the creature, but it was able to twist his primate brain and make him spike the huge chunk of metal right down on top of Aerendyl, almost killing the elf. 
** Then the amnizu turned his attention to Zadimus, still grappling the devil. The Jailer folded its hand-like wings around the top Zadimus's head, bringing up his real hands to touch the vampire's cheek, almost gentle, successfully casting feeblemind on Zadimus and rendering him useless. 
** Wilfred grapples the devil with his pliable summons to keep him where he is and the group wail on the creature again. The thing is unbelievably tough. But they've made their mark now and it's definitely hurt. 
** The Jailer starts barking out in Infernal, calling for parley and reason. Aerendyl knocks it prone with a tidal wave spell, Wilfred keeping it grappled. The fire giant looms over it and Ape-Pyt is nearby, readying another attack. The Jailer says that it can give them whatever they want. Riches beyond their wildest dreams!
** Ape-Pyt screams out: 'NOOOOO!!!' He hurls a giant-sized hammer at the devil and crushes its head. 
** The fight is done. The party, beaten and battered though they might be, are victorious. 
* As anxious as they are to get away, they can't with Zadimus in his current state -- his mind is too enfeebled to even be linked in the telepathic bond spell, let alone to follow their instructions to get out. The group have to take a short rest at least, so that Aerendyl can recover the spell slot necessary for a Greater Restoration spell.
** Since the lava continues to flow out of Zadimus's old cell, they are forced to take their rest inside the cages hanging from the room's ceiling. 
** Wilfred has them bundle the amnizu's corpse into the portable hole for the time being. 
** The fire giant helps them up and is content to wait around on the floor. Eventually the lava flows in up to her mid-thigh. 
** They rest, seeing to their wounds as best they can. 
** Then Aerendyl cures Zadimus of the feeblemind's effects. When he's lucid again, he takes in all that's happened and confirms with the group that they got the puzzle box the amnizu keeps around his neck -- Zadimus thinks it should be worth a fair bit. 
** After the rest, Wilfred is finally able to link them all in a telepathic bond. The tongueless fire giant, finally able to communicate back to the group, introduces herself as Ingvild. 
** Wilfred also decides to cast nondetection on himself, Aerendyl, Clwyd, and Pyt. 
** Then he and Pyt together cast invisibility to cover the whole group and they make their way, at long last, out of the jail and the Bagrellan Estate. 
** Clwyd takes over giving directions and leads them to the nearest Helltrain Station: Scrivens Station. They alight just before the massive, sprawling iron building swarming with all manner of Dis's multi-cultural inhabitants, and all the while, Zadimus just would not shut up in the telepathic bond, even as the party told him Dispater would no doubt be listening in. 
* The party had done it. Zadimus was free, and with him came the enthralled eladrin Ilphas, suffering from 'the Longing', whatever that was, as well as their new ally, the fire giant Ingvild, who was also keen to make her way out of the Hells. But they are already low on resources after their intense, near fatal fight with Bagrellan's Jailer, and a long journey yet awaited them before they would make it to their destination, the Umbral Market.Category:Part Six