Misery Loves Company

In the morning(13:50), Kesra is up early, eager to turn in her bounty. Leona eventually gets Deirdre up, and they head downstairs. It's a cold morning, with only a few people in the tavern. Surprised that Maudit isn't up yet, Deirdre goes to check on him. She finds him gone, with the bed looking messy, the window open, and many of his things still there. Investigating, she finds signs of a struggle, and the lock on the window is broken.

Deirdre goes and tells the others(20:32) what she found, and the 3 discuss what to do. Leona flags down a barmaid, who says she hasn't seen Maudit that morning. Deirdre and Leona investigate the room some more, noticing a cart with hay below his window. Deirdre grabs a few of his things, and, with Kesra, they head outside to examine the cart.

They follow a trail(28:53) of hay from the cart, Leona spots a girl from the orphanage in a nearby alley, who waves her over. The girl tells Leona that she snuck out last night, and saw someone carrying Maudit like a sack of flour. The person headed out the south gate of the city, and had really dark skin, white hairs, and ears like an elf.

Leona rejoins her friends(32:16), telling them what she learned. Kesra recognizes the description of the person as being a drow. Kesra wants to just write Maudit off, dubbing him "Chuckles" for the first time, but Leona and Deirdre insist on finding out what happened to him. Kesra acquiesces and feels her sword grow warm to the touch.

Heading through the city(38:05), they see more decorations going up for the wedding festivities as the city awakens for the day. At the south gate, they see several guards. Approaching, they ask a guard if he's seen a purple tiefling, and he tells them that he saw them head down a trail toward the river. Heading that way, they find some tracks, which they follow to a large clearing.

In the clearing(55:24), they see a massive bronze dragonborn with a big scar on his face, with one milky white eye. He's chopping wood and handing it to 3 kobolds. They tell the dragonborn that they're looking for a purple tiefling, and the dragonborn and kobolds immediately attack them. The group takes some damage, but come out victorious.

After taking a short rest(1:42:14) to heal up, they continue following the tracks. This brings them to a small cove, with a cliff wall going straight up. They spot a way to climb up the wall to a cave, and do so, finding an iron door in the cliff face.

They step inside(1:55:27), finding several barrels and crates, and a set of double doors. There is some hardtack and some jugs of water and ale. They hear chanting from beyond the doors, the crackle of a large fire, and footsteps. They very quietly open the door and have Amaryllis scout ahead.

Amaryllis flies in(2:03:53), spotting 3 figures: Maudit - bound and gagged, a red half-dragon, and a figure with their back to Amaryllis, with massive horns and fine clothes. The last figure is the one chanting. An imp shrieks and bites at Amaryllis, sending her back to the fey. Leona enters the corridor, and the figure casts a fireball, engulfing her and Deirdre.

## Maudit Flashback

The night before(2:20:46), Maudit lies in bed, replaying the events of the day. Eventually, he begins to drift in and out of sleep, but wakes up bound and gagged, somewhere not in his bed. A creature he doesn't recognize enters the room and frees him from his bindings. He introduces himself as Kilciar.

Kilciar takes him to a common room(2:30:11). A pit holds several blue guard drakes, and 4 figures are sitting around a table eating: one who looks related to Kilciar, another a massive bronze dragonborn with a scar on his face, a hooded dark elf, and a red tiefling with messy black hair, and horns that come forward, similar to Maudit's. An imp flutters around the tiefling, who invites Maudit to join him.

The tiefling introduces himself(2:37:35) as Misery, the dragonborn as Tazrakis, Kilciar's brother as Drazoros, and the drow as Ailyn. Kilciar tells him they are serpent guards of Tiamat. He asks Maudit what he knows of Tiamat, which is not much. Misery asks Maudit what he thinks it means to be evil, and Maudit says that he doesn't believe anyone is pure good or pure evil, and Misery agrees. Misery tells Maudit that he saw him fighting the goblins, and was impressed with his sorcery skills, and knew he had to try to recruit him. He tells Maudit about the history of Tiamat, and how she is trapped in Avernus, tortured by Asmodeus. With her, all chromatic dragonkind are sentenced to the same fate. He tells Maudit that Tiamat can give him great power if he joins them.

Misery says(2:55:56) they are cultists, though they don't like the term. He says that he told Ailyn to bring Maudit to them, and neglected to say how - he didn't intend for her to tie him up. He tells Maudit that he can teach him to control the chaotic power within him. He says that if Maudit joins them, he could help them learn about who opposes the freeing of Tiamat.

Maudit says(3:07:34) that he needs to think about it. The two tell each other a little more about their own personal histories. Misery invites him to stay with them for the night and talk with him more in the morning. His imp, whom he calls Ara, shows Maudit to some quarters.

Maudit heads to bed(3:21:32). He dreams of flying over a forest, searching. He flies over Azmarin, diving into the water, and wakes up in the morning, rested. Misery is there and flips the dagger to Maudit, making it land in the paper with the bounty for Andromeda Skyseeker. He tells Maudit that they are in Azmarin, in part, to try to learn about a group which he believes works for Vecna. He says they killed associates of his, leaving a mark with an S in them, which matches the S on the coin that Maudit had. Maudit agrees to join them, and Misery leaves to tell the others.

After Misery leaves (3:43:15), Maudit explores the cave, finding a room with a closed door. Opening it, several clay pots fall to the ground, unleashing a noxious green cloud of dust. In the room is a treasure hoard. As he returns, something hits him hard in the back of the head. He wakes up, bound and gagged, in the middle of a ritual circle.