Episode 211 - Like a Phoenix From the Ashes

## Synopsis

The Gamblers waited backstage. The air around them was unbearably hot and filled with the cheers of the crowd and the sound of fighting in the pit. Looking around the curtain they could see the grand throne, upon which sat the Fiend of Avarice. They went over their plan again, Bou and Serinepth would attack the Fiend head-on, while Integrity would free the caged souls on the ceiling, and Mira would incite the crowd and try to turn them against the Fiend. Serinepth cast *Levitate* on Mira and Integrity drank her *Potion of Flying*, allowing her to take both of them up to the ceiling. Serinepth and Bou began to sneak towards the throne. None of the spectators or the Fiend took notice, though the souls trapped in the cages seemed uneasy with the flying duo's approach. As Bou got closer to the throne, the floorboards underneath them creaked. One of the guards next to the throne turned, pointed at them, and started telling the Fiend there were intruders in the room. Before they could finish, the Fiend held their hand up to silence them, and in a sweet voice told them to stand next to him to watch the fights. The guard cracked his whip and ordered the two of them to come over to the throne. Mira and Integrity watched them from the ceiling, unable to hear what exactly was said. Integrity thought they had been invited to fight in the ring.

Now standing next to the throne, Bou got a good look at the fight at hand. A small fish-headed man was running for his life from a large fire elemental, narrowly avoiding decapitation. The red-haired elf sitting on the throne looked over the two of them, asking what they were doing in the tunnels. Bou said they had gotten lost while looking for the bathroom. The elf said they were in fact right where they needed to be, and that Bou looked strong. They stood up from the throne, towering over them both, and grabbed Bou by the chin. He looked him over before releasing him and pulling a silver chain from around his waist, then asked if Bou would like to be his pet. Bou declined and pushed his hand away. The Fiend looked disgusted, saying that he was only asking if Bou would join willingly and raised his hand, seemingly about to slap them across the face with the chain.

Before this could happen, Integrity jumped up onto the chandelier and yelled that she had an announcement to make. The crowd immediately grew quiet as everyone turned to look at her. The Fiend looked annoyed and asked Bou if she was with them. Mira now also stood atop the chandelier and shouted to the crowd to rise up against the Fiend, for money, power, or glory. A wave of admiration spread through the trapped souls as they heard her, though the crowd remained dead silent. After a brief moment, someone in the crowd through money into the ring, placing their bet on the Fiend of Avarice. The Fiend turned back to Bou and slapped him across the face, before drawing a chain from his belt. Frost began to form across the metal as he whipped it around Serinepth's arms. She waved her hands, sending six beams of scorching fire towards Yent. As they impacted against his skin, they bounced off as the Fiend was immune to fire. As he grinned and taunted her, she turned into a silvery mist and reappeared a few feet away, free of the chains. The guards beside the throne drew their chains as well, lashing towards Serinepth and Bou. Bou took the hit, but cast some runic magic around Serinepth, shielding her from the other guard. The guards in the boxes around the arena used their chains to slowly start climbing towards the chandelier of cages, on top of which Mira and Integrity stood. Integrity flew to the guard on their left, casting *Booming Blade* and stabbing the guard with her Jade Dagger before backing off.

Bou channelled the magic of the hill giants to increase his resistance to attacks, before letting loose on the Fiend of Avarice with his pike. Yent doubled over, seemingly in shock at being hurt, as golden blood flowed from his wounds. Bou then ran away from the Fiend and closer to Serinepth. On top the chandelier, Mira strummed on her lyre, forming a massive arcane hand in the air and sending it hurtling towards the Fiend, knocking him onto his throne. He stood up, told Bou they weren't finished yet, and started waling towards him while drawing another chain. The two chains lashed into Bou, wrapping around and sending jolts of lightning and radiant energy through him. Serinepth ran across the stage, lining up the Fiend and guard before blasting them with a *Cone of Cold*. The guard charged at her and almost managed to punch her square in the stomach, when Bou caused a small cloud to appear in front of her, and other in front of the Fiend of Avarice. As the guard's fist passed through the cloud it emerged right in front of the Fiend and instead punched him in the face. The guard stammered an apology to his master before lashing his chains at Bou.

Above the ground, the guard who Integrity had stabbed jumped up to grab her leg, triggering the surge of thunderous energy left behind from her spell, but was unable to catch her. The other guard jumped onto the chandelier, kicking and swinging his chain into Mira. Integrity grinned at the guard attacking her, asking why it didn't attack its friend as she cast *Crown of Madness*. A circlet of wrought iron appeared around its head, as its eyes glowed and fixed on the other guard. With the chain still wrapped around Bou, he drew his pike again and attempted to stab the arm holding the chain. As he looked at the Fiend, their eyes flared, and for a moment Bou saw an old friend from his past standing before him, asking if he was really going to kill them again. The shock of this caused him to hesitate for a moment, before his mind settled and he stabbed the Fiend twice more. Yent seemed almost on his last legs, bleeding and stumbling over, but not dead yet. Watching from above, Mira pointed a finger and sent a lance of psychic energy straight through the Fiend. They stumbled again, eyes glazing over as he looked towards Mira and asked how this was happening. In response, she commanded her summoned hand to slam into Yent once more. With this, he collapsed over the railing, unmoving.

The crowd fell deadly silent, waiting to see if it was truly over. Seconds passed, and suddenly the Fiend twitched and gasped for air, alive once again. He looked at Bou, who was still standing near him, and said it had been a while since anyone had managed to kill him. The crowd gasped and excited murmurs flew around the room. He smiled and turned to look at Mira, dismissing Bou and saying she was the real threat. With this, he stood up on the railing and reached his hand out as a chain leading down into the lava materialised. He tugged the chain and commanded his pet to wake up. The level of the lava dropped as a large body, with two fiery wings emerged into the room. A large bird's head reared up and shrieked at Mira, as a phoenix emerged from the depths of the arena. The Fiend jumped onto its back and flew up right next to Mira before lashing at her with his chains, as the phoenix bit her with its beak. In reaction to this new threat, Mira's arm grew into an oily black snake which bit into the side of the phoenix. The large, flaming talons also slashed out at Integrity, catching her across the chest.

Serinepth teleported across the stage to line up the Fiend and the phoenix, then held out her hands and sent a *Lightning Bolt* crackling through them. Yent cried out in pain, still seeming quite wounded from before. The phoenix turned around mid air and raced towards the source of this pain, slamming its fiery talons into Serinepth. One of the last remaining guards swung its chains towards Bou and Serinepth, managing to hit them in the moments of shock after the phoenix's arrival. The guard that Integrity had charmed swung over to the one attacking Mira, hitting it with its chain as per Integrity's command. The other guard said they'd always hated them, and pushed their former comrade into the lava below, killing them. They then spun their chains around into Mira and Integrity.

Integrity ignored the guard and flew towards the Fiend of Avarice. She yelled out, asking why he didn't die, and once again sheathed her jade dagger with the thunderous energy of *Booming Blade*. His eyes grew wide as she slashed into his neck, twisting the blade until he shoved her away. She backed away, saying they would take all his money and leave him with nothing. He grasped the chains tighter and mumbled that it wouldn't happen, not today. Bou climbed the throne, and jumped behind Yent onto the phoenix. As he raised his pike to attack once more, the Fiend's head snapped around, morphing into that of a young halfling and asking if he was sorry for what he did. Bou wavered, his pike unable to hit the Fiend, until a grin broke out across their face, and he was finally able to stab Yent through the neck. He gurgled and held a hand up to his neck, trying to prevent his golden blood from running out, before he fell limp and off the phoenix's back onto the ground below. Bou jumped down next to him as, once again, the room grew still with anticipation. He warned the Fiend not to come back a third time, and spat on his body.

The phoenix flew higher up the room, while the guards clutched the chains around their necks to see if they would disappear. The Gamblers saw a small, coiled chain resting in Fiend's hand. Integrity flew down and landed next to Yent. The remaining guard on the floor moved to stop her, before hesitating and stepping back. Integrity picked up the chain, and immediately felt its power. While holding this, she was connected to the thousands of souls chained by the Fiend. She searched through, and commanded for Winsler's soul to show itself, but nothing happened. The guard next to them dropped to his knees and begged her to release them from their contracts. She was unsure, but asked the chain to release the souls it was connected to. In response, spikes grew from its surface, threatening to pierce through her hands. The rest of the group gathered around her, with Mira commanding the hand she had summoned to start freeing people from the cages. The chain looked frail and breakable in her hands, Integrity gripped it tighter and smashed it against the ground again and again. The guards and phoenix recoiled in fear, but the chain did not break. The guard stammered that if she did not wish to free them, they would still serve her, though she quickly assured them that she was trying to break it. Serinepth suggested that they might need to do something to the chain before they could break it. They stood in near silence, broken only by the sound of the bubbling magma below them. Integrity held the chain over the pit, then dropped it into the molten rock below. The chain hissed and sank into the depths. After a few moments, the chains that wrapped around the guard's neck vanished, and they immediately threw off his helmet, looking almost as though they were going to throw up.

The guard's head looked human, but had only ears and a mouth, with no eyes or a nose. The other guards who had been fighting on the chandelier also threw off their helmets and quickly fled towards the exit. the remaining guard crawled across the floor to Integrity's feet and began thanking her profusely for what they had just done, asking if there was any way to repay her. She asked if she had seen anyone fitting Winsler's description, though he shook his head and said he didn't, though he may still be in service of one of the other fiends. While they talked, Bou began searching through the Fiend of Avarice's clothes, finding nothing but a single golden key, and picking up his decapitated head. Mira's arcane hand finished ripping the doors of the cages in the chandelier, and the souls trapped inside rushed out and fled as fast as they could, free at last. Serinepth watched as the ghost of a small foxfolk child stepped tentatively out before following the others out of the room.

The phoenix was looking at the group, as though awaiting orders. Serinepth beckoned it over, and it flew onto the railing next to them. It tucked his head down to be on the same level as them, and Serinepth gestured and acted out that they were looking for Winsler. The phoenix looked at each of them in turn with ancient, sorrowful eyes, before opening its beak and letting out a small burst of flames. They heard it apologise for its actions while under the Fiend's command, then thanked them for freeing it. It sat up taller and offered it salvation, saying it would gladly take them with it as it left the Plane of Lem. Mira thanked it for the offer, but said they still had business there. The phoenix warned them they might not get another chance for a long time, but they insisted on staying. It nodded before flying to the ceiling and disappearing in a burst of light.

Mira turned to the group, saying that she felt they should help the rest of the people trapped in the casino. Bou quickly admonished this, saying they had barely escaped this fight with their lives, that he didn't come to the plane to play the hero. As he spoke, they doors leading to the main casino floor burst open, and three of the large pit fiends who had been watching the floor walked in. Between them was a pale-skinned tiefling with a single onyx horn protruding from her forehead. She shouted at the four of them to stay where they were, as onyx wings sprouted from her back and she flew over to them.