Episode 208 - Down the Rabbit Hole

## Synopsis

The pit fiends dragged Serinepth towards the dungeons below Duplicity. Mira and Integrity stood outside the doors to the casino, still disguised as workers there, while Bou was about to be chained by two other guards. Mira strummed her lyre and cast *Dominate Person*, forcing it to obey her. Integrity ran to the other and stabbed them with her jade dagger. Mira commanded her guard to leave and not tell his boss that something was wrong. Serinepth used *Misty Step* to get away from the fiends and tried to break free of the chains around her arms, but was unsuccessful. The non-dominated guard swung the chain in its hands, striking into Integrity and Bou. Integrity scrambled backwards, throwing her hand out and sending three crackling beams of eldritch energy towards the guard. Bou stood up and pulled a massive polearm from under his cloak, suddenly growing to twice his normal size and stabbing the guard in front of him. As his pike stabbed into the guard, fiery chains wrapped around it, holding the fiend in place until it managed to burst free. Not finished yet, Bou launched into another flurry of strikes that easily destroyed the guard.

Still stunned by Bou's display, Mira turned to her guard and ordered it to take them to its boss. It gestured for them to follow it down the stairs towards the dungeons. Once inside the octagonal room, they saw hundreds of chains hanging from the ceiling, with a covered well in the centre of the room. In the opposite wall, as well as in the walls to their left and right, were small alcoves. In the alcove to their right was the deep gnome from the Chock Block table, while in the alcove opposite from them they saw the foxfolk who had been begging in the lobby. Bou walked over to Serinepth and broke the chains off her arms. Meanwhile, the guard ran over to the well and began gesturing down, before gently grabbing Mira's hand and looking at her almost pleadingly. He mimed instructions of where to go when they were down, then gave her a bundle of chains from the ceiling. Before they went down, Serinepth tried to break the chains holding the prisoners in the alcoves. The foxfolk thanked her profusely, begging her to help look for his son who had been taken by the fiend of Avarice. Mira warned her that they only had a few minutes before her control of the guard faded.

They looked down the well, seeing water about ninety feet below them. Together they jumped down, casting *Feather Fall* to slow their descent. When they reached the bottom, they saw what looked like a flooded cellar. The walls were an earthen red, and spiked chains lay scattered and discarded on the floor. Tunnels led out in many different directions. As they stood there, they realised the liquid beneath them wasn't water, but oil. The smell of fire and brimstone slowly each of the tunnels, as well as the dancing flicker of flames. Just as quickly as they appeared, the flames vanished. The group waited a few moments more, and the cycle repeated. They followed the directions given to them by Mira's guard down the hallways. Mira charged ahead of the group, while Integrity, Bou, and Serinepth were slightly more cautious. From behind them, they heard the splashing of oil, and turned to see a skull rising from the ground, its eyes igniting to flame as its teeth started chattering at them. They went to call for Mira, just in time to see a massive beast emerge from one of the other hallways. It had the body of a big cat, but where its head should be were instead three, a goat, lion, and red dragon.

The chimera pounced at Mira, unleashing a jet of bright red flame towards her, before slashing her with its claws and horns. From behind Serinepth, the skull shot a *Fireball* that engulfed the room, setting all the oil on fire. Mira put out the fire that was slowly burning her, and yelled out encouragement to Bou. Integrity dropped and slid underneath the chimera, stabbing her jade dagger into its stomach. Bou stepped into the boiling oil in order to reach both the skull and the chimera, before stabbing the skull until it stopped moving. The rune on his key flared, as he invoked the magic of the storm giants. Serinepth pulled out the comet staff she had taken from the moon and pointed it towards the chimera, casting *Enervation*. The necrotic energy from the staff wrapped around the the wound Integrity had left and began to tear it open even further. The chimera lashed out around it, slamming Mira with its horns and raking at Integrity with its claws. Not wanting to die, Mira pulled back on her lyre and released a *Psychic Lance* that thoroughly incapacitated the chimera for a moment. Integrity once again stabbed her dagger into the chimera, which collapsed onto her as the life left its body.

The group put out the fires around the room, taking a moment to catch to breath. Then they heard the sound of an opening door from down the hallway, as someone had come to investigate what had happened.