Episode 212 - No Way In, No Way Out

## Synopsis

The Fiend of Death flew over the lava to the Gamblers. She commanded them to stay still until she reached them. When she reached them, she recognised the group from the front desk and said they could have just gone to her if they had any issues, instead of destroying the gambling house. Mira apologised and said that if they had known they could, they would have done so. The Fiend pointed at Bou and told them to give her the Fiend of Avarice’s head. He questioned why she wanted it, but she just demanded to have it again until he handed it over. She connected the head to her vest, then asked who had sent the Gamblers to kill him. Mira said they just wanted money. The Fiend sighed and said they were liars and murderers, that Count Haktul had told her all about the assassination as soon as the group had left. She asked if they even knew why he wanted the Fiend dead, to which the group admitted they didn’t.

The Fiend told the group they would have to pay for breaking casino rules of murder and scaring away paying customers. Mira asked if she wasn’t glad the Fiend of Avarice was dead, to which she grinned and said it was the best part of her day. She also thanked them for taking care of the Heart of Desire. Mira asked if there was any other way to help her, if there were any other fiends she wanted dead. The Fiend of Death walked right up to her and lifted Mira’s chin up with her finger, then asked if she wanted to make a deal, in which case she would be very interested.

The Fiend said she would arrange a dinner for the following evening, and would invite Count Haktul to allow the group to speak with him again. The Gamblers agreed to this quite enthusiastically. With that settled, the Fiend reminded them that they still owed a fee for breaking their contract when they entered the House. They would have to pay half of what the Count had given them for the job, back to the House. Mira handed over two of the coins they had been given over to the Fiend, which vanished into thin air. She then asked where Yent’s lead was, as it was extremely important in returning order to the casino, where dozens of workers had realised they were no longer bound to the place. Serinepth told her that in the fight, the lead had fallen into the lava. The others quickly backed her up, and the Fiend clicked her tongue and said that was a shame, they would have to break the chains out of the House so no one could escape. She told them she would send a letter to their room detailing the dinner, and asked them not to kill anyone else without her permission.

The Fiend spread her wings and fly back out, commanding the pit fiends to help her break the chains around the House so they could round up the newly freed workers. After she left, the Gamblers discussed the new deal they had made, and what the Fiend of Death’s possible goals could be. Bou brought out the key he had found on the Fiend of Avarice’s body, saying they hadn’t been told they couldn’t explore the casino, and whatever room it opened was probably important. Serinepth also voiced her concerns over the breaking of the chains and how they might escape Duplicity. The students started to head back to their room, on the way Integrity found seven blue chips piled under a chair, each worth five hundred gold pieces. The grand doors to the theatre opened for them, revealing a waiting area with a bar and several grills for food. There was a bartender who spoke as if he’d been crying, but welcomed them to the Fiend of Avarice’s fighting pits. He hesitated for a moment, then asked if they were the ones who just killed someone. The group said they had, and were surprised he was still chained to the casino after they had destroyed the lead. He told them he was too, and was unnerved by the thought he didn’t know who he was really in the service of. He asked if, as a favour, they could try and break the chain around his neck. They declined, but promised they would do their best to free everyone in the casino eventually.

The Gamblers went up the lift and arrived in a long hallway, with cloaks hung on hooks on the walls. At the far end was a set of doors, through which they could hear people running and yelling. Occasionally they heard the sounds of fighting and chains snapping. The group peeked through the doors to see dozens of the casino workers, no longer with chains around their necks, running as fast as they could towards the exit. A line of pit fiends blocked their path, snapping chains around their necks to recapture them. The Gamblers made their way over to the lifts to reach their room, and found a small group of unchained ex-dealers waiting for a lift to come. Upon seeing the group, they pushed further against the wall, picked up a broken bottle, and stammered to leave stay away. Serinepth tried to assure them they just wanted to get to their rooms, though Bou instead tried to threaten them into stepping aside, to no effect. When the lift arrived they rushed inside and began their ascent.

Eventually another lift came. They gave the imp the key from the Fiend of Avarice’s old room and they started to ascend. The imp commented on the chaos outside and recommended they get an extension on their rooms as the chains out of the casino were being cut. Serinepth asked if there wasn’t another way out, like the boats that used to travel across Lem. The imp said there wasn’t, though he seemed to be keeping something to himself. They eventually reached the right floor and the imp asked for his tip. Bou gave him a used napkin, to which the imp looked very disappointed. As they got off, Integrity said they could have given him more money if he told them about the boats. With this the imp leapt out the lift, which immediately plummeted downwards, and crawled over to them. He was breathing heavily said he could tell them all about boats for the right price. Serinepth have him ten gold pieces, and the imp told them that the Fiends had all the boats confiscated, but there was an old captain in Silvertons. The group realised they probably knew who he meant, and with that the imp scurried away down the hallways.

The Gamblers continued down the seemingly endless corridors, until they arrived at Room 799. A beautifully carved door depicted a muscular giant being swarmed by several impish creatures. They listened by the door for a moment, hearing what sounded like wind coming in through open windows, but no people. Bou slid the key into the lock, opening the door to the suite behind it. The walls were a gaudy and obnoxious red, the floor black marble with veins of gold. There were chandeliers and bottles of the finest of wine scattered around. On the opposite wall we’re a series of windows, each fully open and letting in the dust storm from outside the casino. Through an archway to the side of the room was a grand bathroom, with a small trickle of water and some foul smell coming from somewhere inside. In one corner of the room was a large poster bed with curtains drawn shut. Serinepth opened the curtains to see two or three people sleeping on the bed, none of them had chains around their necks. She quickly closed them again and told her friends they weren’t alone. Integrity also went to get a better look at the people in the bed. They all looked exactly like the Fiend of Avarice. Mira also went over to look, as Bou asked what they were doing. As he spoke, one of the figures stirred and began to open their eyes. The group quickly ducked out of view and heard the figure ask if Yent was there. When they didn’t see anyone, they lay back down and fell asleep again. Serinepth Messaged Mira and Integrity to close the curtains and join them in the bathroom. They saw a headless body submerged in an overflowing bathtub, with their hands draped over the sides. On closer inspection, it looked exactly like the Fiend of Avarice’s body after Bou had decapitated it, except the neck seemed to have been covered in gold. Serinepth turned the tap off to stop the water overflowing further. Around the rest of the bathroom, they found dozens of skincare products, and a heart drawn in the condensation on a mirror.

They decided to investigate the rest of the suite, Serinepth looked over a small writing desk, Mira continued looking around the bathroom, Bou looked around the living room, and Integrity searched for hidden cavities and passages. Mira found many more skincare products, as well as a drawer filled with little trinkets, declarations of love towards the Fiend. She also found four different coloured potions: one golden with bubbles, one dark green with moss, one translucent amber with floating scorpions, and one that looked like molten metal. Serinepth found stacks of fan mail and love letters, as well as a ledger filled with the last five-hundred years of finances for the House, during which they earned profits in the hundreds of millions of gold pieces. She also found a framed letter on the table, addressed to the Fiend. It was emblazoned with a fiendish symbol, and seemed to be another love letter, signed by Haktul. Integrity searched every nook and cranny of the room, until eventually she found a few items hidden in the chandelier in the living room. There was a golden flower that smelled very rotten, as well as a tiny eyeball that turned to look at her before turning limp.

They reconvened and headed back to their own room to discuss what they had found. Integrity asked if anyone knew what the flower she had found was. Serinepth noticed that every time they spoke, the petals seemed to twitch and curl in response. Mira realised from experience that this was probably intended to be an eavesdropping device, and recommended they destroy it. Bou walked over and immediately ripped off a petal. The other petals quickly fell off on response, and the flower fell limp and dead. Integrity then held up the eyeball, with the pupil now having changed into a cross, Mira brought out the potions she had found, and Serinepth showed them the letter from Count Haktul. Reading though, it seemed to be filled with fluffy declarations of love, though whether it was reciprocated wasn’t clear.

From outside, they heard a horrible screeching of metal. Looking through the windows they saw the dozens of chains that led in and out of Duplicity fall to the ground, cut by the pit fiends who started rounding everyone back inside the casino. The Gamblers took the rest of the evening to relax and clean up. Mira and Integrity examined the potions they had found and learned the gold one was a *Potion of Heroism*, the green was a *Potion of Animal Friendship*, the amber was a *Potion of Longevity*, and the molten metal was a *Potion of Invulnerability*. With that, they went to sleep to prepare for their dinner with the Fiend of Death the following day.