Episode 214 - A Meal to Die For

## Synopsis

The imp cranked the elevator higher and higher through the hotel. The party inside, along with the gnome, Eff, heard a sound like wind whipping above them. The imp warned them to hold their breaths just as the elevator began to shake and rattle, dust seeping through the cracks in the walls, a foul smell permeated the small space of the elevator as they continued to ascend higher and higher. After a while, they entered another shaft, sheltered from the winds, and the imp apologised for the brief moment of unpleasantness. Eventually, they arrived at their stop. The imp bowed and looked expectantly at the group for a tip. Bou handed him one of the large chips he read earned earlier, resulting in profuse gratitude and a declaration of eternal worship. Eff pushed their cart off the elevator and motioned for the group to follow him.

Before then they saw a white marble hallway, overgrown with vines with white and black flowers. As the group walked past, the flowers let out a puff of smoke as well as a glimmer of light to guide them. The group left Eff behind to struggle with his cart, as they walked further into the Fiend of Death’s private quarters. They arrived at a foyer, with a small birdbath in the centre. In the corners of the room were large statues that looked like angles praying. Opposite the entrance was a large set of deep red, double doors. As they waited for something to happen, Serinepth walked over to examine one of the flowers. She gently touched it, and it seemed to recoil for a moment before releasing another puff of smoke and withering onto the floor. Immediately, the room was filled with the stench of decay and death.

At last, Eff arrived in the room. He pushed the cart into a corner, then began washing his hands in the birdbath, before closing his eyes as if in prayer. Integrity asked if they needed to pray as well, Eff said they didn’t, but they should probably wash their hands after being in the casino for so long. The group began washing their hands in the surprisingly cool water. Serinepth began a general prayer of thanks for letting them be in the Plane, as well as a request to tip the theatre imps. Mira began praying to Sésul, asking for any guidance she could give. As she did so, Serinepth and Integrity noticed that for the briefest of moments, the spiral tattoo on her arm glowed iridescent. Eff finished his prayers, the chain around his neck loosened slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He then walked over to the grand double doors, bowed, and welcomed them to the Fiend of Death’s estate.

The doors cracked open and the group walked in, leaving Eff behind. The walls and ceiling were draped in curtains and vines, and in the centre of the room was a large table set for dinner. Opposite them was a grand chair at the head of the table, with another set of double doors behind it. The table had name cards for each of them, as well as for Count Haktul. They took to their seats, and waited in silence for a moment until they heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor in the hallway they had just come down. To door opened to reveal a large fiend dragging a chair with Count Haktul bound to it and gagged. Mira moved to the side to allow them to pass through to his labelled position. With that, the fiend left back into the birdbath room, leaving them alone. A moment later, the doors behind the head of the table were opened by a woman in a dark suit with white detailing, bone white skin, and a single horn horn on her forehead. The Fiend of Death smiled and welcomed her guests to dinner.

Horst thanked the group for agreeing to their terms, and in turn they thanked her for agreeing for their amendment. She then walked over to Count Haktul, and asked Serinepth if she thought his silence was rude, ignoring the fact that her gag was the reason for this. Serinepth didn’t want to Count to be immediately executed, so carefully answered that they had already talked, and could catch up more later if they wanted. The Fiend of Death nodded, then asked Integrity if she had a dagger to loosen the vines around his mouth. Integrity drew her jade dagger and did as she was asked. While she was close, he whispered to her, begging her to kill the Fiend while she had the chance. Integrity closed her eyes briefly to think, then moved back to her seat.

The Fiend of Death smiled, then asked if the Count had anything he wanted to say to the group. He immediately began apologising, saying he thought they would fail and no harm would be done. They just stared back in silence, until Integrity hinted about the letters they had found in his room. The Count fell silent in disbelief before yelling at her for looking into his personal business, he turned to Horst and asked if it was her plan to embarrass him before she killed him, then finally turned to Bou and said he would give whatever they wanted in exchange for his freedom. Bou replied there was nothing he could give that they wanted. The Count slumped in his chair and fell silent.

Horst sighed, seemingly disappointed his pleading had finished so soon, then rang a small silver bell. When Eff scurried through the door, she asked him to bring in Yent. He nodded, left, then returned a moment later with a covered silver platter. He placed it in front of Haktul, then took off the cover to reveal the severed head of the Fiend of Avarice. The Count sneered and spat on the head, before turning to Horst and asking her to untie him. She leaned back and asked the others if they thought she should do so. Mira said that she didn’t think it would be a good idea, and so Horst declined his plea. She then rang the bell again and asked for the food to be brought it. Eff brought more plates and placed them before the remaining guests, and finally the Fiend of Death. The covers were removed to reveal a purple fish on a bed of leafy vegetables.

Before they are, Horst asked Integrity to lead them in a prayer to Lem, which she managed to stumble through. Afterwards, the group hesitantly started picking at the food, waiting for Horst to eat first. She assured them it was not poisoned, saying that if she wanted them dead, she would have killed them already. She also corrected an error that Integrity had made in her prayer, saying that she had been created by Lem. She instead told them she had simply adapted to the circumstances better than most, and that she had been there long enough to watch the entire Plane grow up. She said she missed some people, but thought that the Plane had aged well. She asked them what they thought of the Plane, Mira said it was quite different from the Prime Material Plane and took some getting used to. Bou said that he wasn’t a fan, which Horst said she was sad to hear, then asked what he came for. He refused to tell her, though she said if he did she would be able to help him as one of the devils in charge of the casino. She also told them that Eff informed her when they asked about Winsler and Quent, so she knew they were looking for them. At this, Bou lost his patience. He said that he couldn’t sit near the Fiend anymore, that as soon as they stopped amusing her they were dead. Mira tried to quiet him to no avail, and after he finished the room fell quiet.

The Fiend of Death breathed deeply for a moment, before apologising for how he saw her, she admitted the name did her no favours, but assured them it was simply her role in Duplicity. It was her job to bring the souls of the dead into huge Plane of Lem. Bou argued that if that was her job, why was she sitting idly with them, eating dinner. Her voice grew angrier as she told them that was all the Fiend’s of Avarice and Whimsy did, she did so much more than they could see. She told them she had been an angel assigned to Lem, with the job of guiding the dead to wherever they needed to go next, she was the only thing keeping Duplicity from devolving into a simple den of sin. She said she had invited them to dinner to make a deal with them. Bou sneered, and said the casino had already fallen from grace, not caring at all about what she had said. Horst agreed, saying that was why she had thanked them for killing the Fiend of Avarice, and why Count Haktul would die that night. Bou mocked her talking of the sanctity of the plane, saying he wouldn’t be a pawn for a fallen angel. Mira shouted at them to stop, saying they needed to make this deal to find their friend. Bou said they could do as they pleased, before getting out of their chair and storming towards the door. Horst called out one final time, asking if he wanted to know where his friend was. Bou replied that he would find them himself, before slamming the doors behind him. A moment later, they heard the sound of the elevator screeching its way back down to the hotel.

Horst looked at the remaining guests, and asked if they were going to storm out as well. Mira said they wouldn’t, and asked what she wanted in exchange for Winsler. Horst pulled a chain from her pockets, explaining that the Fiend of Avarice had created one for each of them, to prevent the souls of the dead moving on. She then walked over to a cord by the wall, asked if they remembered the Heart of Desire, and pulled the cord. The curtain across the ceiling slowly retracted to reveal a large, closed eye. Horst named it the Eye of Delight, and told Mira to ask it where their friend was. Mira touched the chain, feeling connected to every soul bound to it, and asked the Eye where Winsler was. The eye opened, looked directly at her, and told her that his soul had been claimed by the Fiend of Whimsy, Galvan.

Mira asked if she wanted them to kill the Fiend of Whimsy, which Horst said would be nice, but she had a different request. The Fiend had taken a person she admired: Di’Auna, the architect of Duplicity, and she wanted her back. She told them the Fiend loved rich people, and they could possibly leverage that to get his attention. Mira asked why she didn’t just kill the Fiend herself, to which Horst told her she had oaths with many different gods about what she could and couldn’t do, including killing anyone she wanted. The Fiend of Death however, she called godless, having made no such oaths. Mira asked if there were any weaknesses or things they needed to know about him. Horst said he liked shapeshifting into others, such as the imps running around the casino, and he could come across as very unassuming, so they should be on guard.

Mira asked what guarantee they had that after they had killed the Fiend, Horst wouldn’t just take Winsler’s soul for herself. Horst asked how he had died, and Serinepth told her that he had died protecting them and their school. Horst looked at her, and said that if he had died before his time, and given how much he meant to them, she saw no reason to prevent his leaving. She did however warn them that his soul might be formless, like those in the cages above the Fiend of Avarice’s arena, and so might vanish from the Plane once freed. Though she also told them that provided Winsler had made himself useful to the Fiend, this shouldn’t be a problem. Horst then thanked them for the pleasant conversation, then asked them to leave her alone with Count Haktul.