Session 70 "Into The Hellish Athkatmon"

Session 70 Recap: Into The Hellish Athkatmon

After a night in the extradimensional Black Horse Tavern, fully rested, you spoke with the Mistress of the Tavern, Mistress Camilla Krieger, sister of Ebon, one of the most powerful mages in Athkatmon and greater Amn. Though rather mercenary about it, she was able to get you to Balistar’s citadel on the Plane of Air, a place she had visited once as an apprentice to Xavin Broom of The Company of Eight.

Other faces you recognized from the city were gathered there, Helena Barterman and Father Thadius Dawnhunter of The Company of Eight, and a halfling you had encountered previously but had not formally met, Seeker Assume who was at your coronation ceremony, and as it turns out, had also been with Helena and the other resistance members who had assisted you in your fight against The Giant’s Fist.

Balistar gave you some background on Amon, confirming details of his identity, that he appears to be a Pit Fiend, among the most powerful types of Devils, generally only widely known devils such as the Archdukes are more powerful. Amon was known to be the “Left Hand Man” of Levistus, ruler and archduke of the 5th Layer of Hell.

He continued to explain what was happening in Athkatmon, within the red energy bubble. Apparently, the devils have found a way to bring Hell to the world, have syphoned the power from the planar portal to the plane of fire and have used it to bring their forces and the essence of Hell to The Material Plane. Athkatmon, Balistar surmised, was chosen as a focal point because it contains two planar portals. If the devils took another, the entire nation of Amn would be consumed, and if they took both, at the very least the continent if not the world would be within their grasp.

What’s more, the devils have an incredible edge: time moves approximately 3-4 times faster within the bubble, meaning that while it’s only a matter of time before they breach the other portals, they’ll be able to accomplish their goals at an accelerated pace.

In addition to the gathered forces at Balistar’s the Phoenix egg which had also been under his protection has hatched. The Phoenix, Teela-Na, had summoned Rhys to impart some words of encouragement and also t0 awaken the powers of his sword. She said she had been looking for a champion, both Elizabeth Grey and The Flame Speaker Alaine were in touch with her power, but it was in Rhys that she had finally found her champion. She informed him that as long as his allies remained close, they would be protected from the corrupting influence of the city.

The plan is now as follows: Seeker Assume will head north to gather the armies of the northern nations. With the whole world at stake the forces of Hell Must be fought back at all costs. Meanwhile, Teela-Na, The Phoenix, must retake the gateway to the plane of elemental fire and cut the devils off from manipulating the energies she guards, but she is not at a power level where she could take the gate, let alone maintain and guard it. To that end she must venture to The Outer Plane of Mount Celestia, essentially Heaven, to accelerate the return of her powers. The former members of The Company of Eight, Helena Barterman and Father Thadius Dawnhunter will escort and guard her while she is in this vulnerable state. Meanwhile The Lucky Seven made their way to the heart of Athkatmon to attempt to shut down the portal and energy field surrounding and transforming Athkatmon into the newest layer of Hell while their companions, Ebon, Chadwick, Bibble, and Yuk Yuk remained behind at Balistar’s.

Balistar teleported them to The Alabaster Lyceum and the Lucky Seven faced first hand the horrors of what has happened to their home, fortunately, thanks to both use of the *invisibility* spell and *pass without trace*, escaping the attention of one of The Hellfire Engines that now roam the streets sowing destruction and death in their wake.

They saved a woman and her two sons running from a trio of Devils, and Begbee has now gone into the sewers with them to take them to Dorn’s hideout. Meanwhile the rest of the group now plans to head to The Tower that had been falsely described as a sky port, where they believe the means of generating the portal exists.