Session 32 - The Lady of Pain

The Dogs of War met with their friend Abbar-Savi to discuss what they had just seen. He was visibly shaken and had several large bloody wounds on his face and arms. He told them he had seen the Lady of Pain and that she had communicated her rage to him. The party left Abbar-Savi and returned to Sigil. Upon arriving, as they exited Greywater Manor, they found the city littered with the torn, bloody, shredded corpses of soldiers with the Grand Army of Revolt. Some lay dead in the streets, others were hung from buildings, others were splayed open and pinned to walls as gruesome art installations. It seemed that not a single soldier was left alive. In a matter of minutes the Lady of Pain had cleansed the city of their presence. The party shakily headed for Zyndar's house where they found him sitting stunned outside his house. After discussing next steps, Needra took leave of the party to return to her growing druid circle at Cliffside in the Feywild. The rest of the party decided that the next thing to do was to attempt to initiate contact with the Lady of Pain. They went to retrieve Needra at her base. On the way back to Sigil, they were ambushed by a group of very unusual creatures resembling modrons but with undead biological components. They defeated their attackers and took some of their parts to analyze. Upon returning to Sigil they left the parts with Zyndar and requested another audience with Abbar-Savi. When he arrived they asked him to put them into contact with the Lady of Pain. He reluctantly agreed and took them to a cramped alley deep in the heart of Sigil. At the end of the alley was a large carving of the Lady of Pain. They spoke to her and each of the members of the party receded into a dream state where they felt the pure rage she felt at having been imprisoned and at having her city violated by the Army of Revolt. They understood that she wished them to destroy the Adaranth and she gifted them each a boon to empower them in the quest. Caedryll asked her in his dream where the Adaranth could be found. He did not receive a direct response, but later in the day he noticed a small cut in his arm that itched and seemed to be growing larger. The idea came to him that possibly the beholder Ir'mee al-Ma would be a source of information for them. They travelled to the Astral Plane and to the Athenaeum of Ir'mee al-Ma. Upon arriving, they encountered the random madness that met them on their last visit. The found the ancient beholder floating aimlessly throughout its collection. Caedryll performed a lullaby to lull the beholder to sleep, then cast a dream spell to enter the dreams of the cyclopean creature. Once inside the dream, he planted the idea of a portal leading directly to the Adaranth. As soon as he left the dreams of the beholder the party found that a new door had appeared in the library. It opened into the astral sea near a massive spinning vortex which seemed to be a sort of portal. The party summoned Pylympe and sent a message to Abbar-Savi asking him to see if the Lady of Pain wanted them to bring the Adaranth back to her so she could deal with it. They did not receive a reply, and decided to act. They moved into the portal and were instantly transported to a location that was clearly within the city of Sigil, but it was very unclear what time period they were in. There were signs that they had travelled far into the past and also sings that they were far in the future.