How To Win People And Influence Fiends

**How To Win People And Influence Fiends** was the eighth chapter of Candlekeep Mysteries.

## Synopsis

### Part 1

In the weeks since their adventure in Odenai, Audri Undertree, Gavin Dayne, and Tethu Zildac kept busy. Audri learned how to use thieves' tools from Vooshadi Moonriver; Gavin began learning Abyssal from V'ziir-Ag; and Tethu researched potential ways of moving powerful beings between the Inner Planes. As they were studying one morning, Parmak arrived, saying someone had arrived to the keep who he thought they could help with.

Waiting inside the front gate was Nuck Rucket-Buckingham. Nuck had come to Candlekeep in search of her father Elias Buckingham, who she hadn't heard from in several months. Byrrali informed Nuck and the party that Buck had been killed alongside the arcanaloth Arcus while on an adventure to Sigil. While Gavin tried to get the imp in his bag to shut up, the party attempted in the loosest sense of the word to comfort Nuck, and then led her to the Hearth. They left her there with Vooshadi, and then went to find out more about Buck's fate from Sylvira Savikas.

Sylvira told them Buck had gone to Sigil to investigate some counterfeit books which were actually monstrous gingwatzims. He had gone to confront a gang of jackalweres, but never returned. He had also sold his soul to a devil in order to find Nuck, and also pledged to fight in Moloch's campaign to retake Malbolge in exchange for a regular axe. The party decided that they would tell Nuck that the jackalweres had killed Buck, and that they were going to Sigil to avenge him. They would not tell Nuck however that they were also going to Sigil to see if there was any way they could void Buck's contracts and get him resurrected.

After updating Nuck, Sylvira took the party to Sigil. She advised them that a good place to start looking for Moloch, and indeed the bounty hunter who Buck had sold his soul to, was the Whip's Crack. Sylvira stayed at Bricky's while the party went to the devil bar.

Inside the Whip's Crack, the trio rejected an immediate offer to sell their souls to a bearded devil and found Moloch. While Moloch tried to convince them to join his crusade to Malbolge, the party stayed focus on Buck, and also improving Moloch's business acumen. They eventually made a deal that the party would buy Moloch a drink, and that he would find and resurrect Buck (with Gavin sharply catching a clause in the contract which would forfeit their souls unless they bought him a Dirty Avernus with very precise specification). Upon giving Moloch his drink, Moloch found Buck with magic. He assumed he was the subject of some sort of practical joke, as Buck was the imp inside Gavin's bag.

After attempting to work out from Buck what was going on, the imp was spotted from the bar by Mumjescas. Mumjescas told the party he had sold Buck's soul to an investment banker with an office in Sigil, Lebyrus.

The party went to Lebyrus, who offered them a simple quid pro quo: he would tell them what he had done with Buck's soul, if they retrieved an object which had been stolen from him. The party persuaded him to include a referral to his Infernal lawyer as part of the arrangement, and he agreed. They then all went to the Chasm so he could brief them on their mission.

### Part 2

In the Chasm, Lebyrus told the party what he wanted them to do. The Amberdune crime syndicate, recently invigorated by their team up with a cambion, had stolen an iron flask from Lebyrus. Lebyrus wanted the party to go into the Amberdune hideout and get it back. After some negotiation over the exact procedure of their deal, the party went to the hideout.

Audri sent Fluffy into the hideout first, to try to draw out the Amberdunes. This initially worked, and two jacklaweres came out onto the street for the party to ambush. They then went inside, and found a trapdoor. Audri had Fluffy attempt the same manoeuvre again, but no one followed him this time. The party then descended the spiral staircase underneath the trapdoor, and found an underground stronghold. Fluffy had alerted the Amberdune jackalweres and their thugs to the party's presence, and so they were ready for a fight. The party made their way through the hideout until they were face to face with the Amberdune leaders, Korvala and Saeth. Korvala was killed, and Gavin stuffed Saeth into a bag of holding after Audri polymorphed him into a turtle.

After the fight, the trio found the iron flask in a nearby chest. Tethu was able to identify that there was a creature inside it, and the party debated their next move.

### Part 3

The party decided they would give the flask to Lebyrus. After looting the rest of the hideout, they went outside, where Audri noticed a figure tailing them on the rooftops. Audri greeted the figure, who swooped down to grab her. He asserted that he needed the flask, but was intimidated by Gavin into resolving the issue diplomatically. He eventually introduced himself as Nezziko, and it emerged that he served the demon lord Pazuzu. Nezziko explained that the flask was his and that Lebyrus stole it from him. He also stated that Faerûn was under imminent apocalyptic threat from Zuggtmoy, but that the followers of Pazuzu would be able to survive, and that the flask would help with that.

The party and Nezziko agreed to go to Grung and Tonic, where Nezziko allowed the party to discuss their options. After a brief interjection by a dwarven waiter which caused some tension between Gavin and Tethu, the party came to an agreement. They agreed that they didn't want to involve themselves in whatever conflict was happening between Pazuzu and the devils, and so they would give the flask to Lebyrus and move on. The explained this to Nezziko, who again tried to convince them to join the cult of Pazuzu and give him the flask. They were unconvinced by his assertion that it was the only way they would survive Zuggtmoy's coming plague, which he explained had been field tested in the Feywild, Nezziko realised additionally that he would be unable to fight the party, so he instead pleaded with them not to give the flask to Lebyrus. When asked why, he told the party that the creature in the flask was Pazuzu himself.

Nezziko left, and the party considered their next move. They decided not to give the flask to Lebyrus, and to take it back to Candlekeep. They agreed however not to tell the Avowed about the flask, and to try to contact the Harpers instead. They agreed they would have to try to find another way to help Buck.

The party returned to Sylvira in Bricky's, where they told her that they had killed the jackalweres and that they had tracked down the devil who had bought (and then sold) Buck's soul. They asked her to take them back to Candlekeep before they discussed anything further.

Outside Candlekeep, the trio told Sylvira what Nezziko had told them about Zuggtmoy, but did not mention the flask. Sylvira could tell they were withholding information however, and expressed her wishes that they trust her, especially in the context of the threat Zuggtmoy posed. Gavin began to tell her about the flask, but Tethu attempted to shut him up with magic, which Gavin counterspelled. Aware of the tension, Sylvira allowed the party to have a sidebar. They agreed to tell Sylvira about Pazuzu and the flask, but not tell her where it was, and to still ask for the Harpers' help. Sylvira was unhappy with them doubting either the morals or the capabilities of the Avowed, and asked them to follow her. She led them deep into the citadel, past the Emerald Door, and into the bowels of the keep Exaltation. Their, she introduced them to Miirym, the ghost dragon who guarded the greatest treasures within Candlekeep. After this, and an explanation of the other defenses Candlekeep had, Tethu handed over the flask. Sylvira told the party that she would have to inform Janussi and Bookwyrm of the presence of the flask, but that it would be kept a secret beyond that. She also agreed to put the party in contact with the Harpers.

The party then returned to the Hearth to talk to Nuck. Leaving Gavin and Buck outside, Tethu told Nuck that they had killed the Amberdune pack, and recounted how Buck had sold his soul and become an imp. Nuck was taken aback by the news, but told him that she wanted to see her father again. Tethu told her that they could track him down in the next few days. She thanked the party for their help.

## Player Characters

* Audri Undertree
* Gavin Dayne
	+ Elias Buckingham

* Tethu Zildac

## NPCs

* V'ziir-Ag
* Parmak
* Vooshadi Moonriver
* Sylvira Savikas
* Nuck Rucket-Buckingham
* Byrrali
* Fembris Larlancer
* Moloch
* Mumjescas
* Lebyrus
* Korvala
* Saeth
* Nezziko
* Sugo
* Miirym
* Pazuzu (mentioned only)

## Locations

* Faerûn
	+ Candlekeep
		- The Hearth
		- Exaltation
* Sigil
	+ Bricky's
	+ The Whip's Crack
	+ The Chasm
	+ Grung and Tonic