The World Beneath

"The World Beneath" is the 80th session of the Legend of the Leaves campaign.

It took place in the Demonic Eruptions questline of Arc 5: Dead Souls Rising.

## Synopsis

After teaming up again with Bambara, the Leaves decide to make their way to the portal that leads to the first layer of the Nine Hells.

# Story Development

## Part 1

Bambara catches up with the rest of the party and explains how he got so deep down into the volcano. Xolotacl gives Bambara the obsidian daggers and, exhausted by the heat, sits down to take a rest.
Raijin explains shortly to the rest of the party what he knows about the lore regarding the outer planes, including The Nine Hells. Bambara examines the hellfire engine and manages to use it as a vehicle. He also finds a charge of a tiny hut spell inside it.

They decide to proceed to the exit the bridge they are on leads into. On their way through this passage, they notice a smell of calmness which fills Raijin with a feeling he had on Icespire Peak while hunting with Cobden Lynk.

However, that feeling fades away as they arrive in a room filled with lava, from which pillars with infernal inscriptions supposedly mark a way to three other exits.

Unable to make sense of the inscriptions, the Leaves spend a significant amount of time trying to figure out a way out of the room, until finally realizing the combination of pillars they have to step on in order for the room to open its true exist.

## Part 2

After opening the door, a strange feeling of time passing comes over them, and they see, where Xolotacl was sitting, a skeleton in his place wearing his clothes. Malcer uses speak with dead on him. He reveals to him that half a century has passed since he said goodbye to them, and that now he can finally rest.

The party proceeds to the exit of the puzzle room and arrives at the core of the volcano.

An ancient red dragon is hanging onto her life, surrounded by her children wyrmlings. She is stuck in the portal to Avernus, hoping for someone to relieve her of her destiny.

At that moment, Angmar Boulderdown and Hondruk Thunderslash enter the room, thanking the Leaves for leading them to the core. They soon realize that Angmar was in cahoots with Thunderslash, who then reveals to Malcer that he has recognized him and that he will pay for his betrayal.

At that moment, Darius throws down the medallion Moroz gave him and Moroz appears, overwhelmed by the success the party had. Angmar and Thunderslash, confused by the whole situation, are ready to fight, but Moroz takes them out with hold person with little to no effort.

Moroz tells the party that he cannot get rid of the portal as long as it is blocked by the dragon stuck in it. Darius approaches the dragon, who puts her head down onto a rock, urging Darius to hit as hard as possible in order to kill her in one blow. She tells him that failing to do so will activate her breath weapon like a reflex and that she will be unable to controll her wyrmlings in defending her.

Darius smites her down, separating her head from her body. The wyrmlings come immediately flying to her head, starting to feed on it.

Lorilon approaches Angmar and asks her why she chose to betray them. She doesn't answer his question, to which he asks her what happened to Jhindis. She tells him that he wasn't ready to listen to her and paid the price for doing so.

Malcer goes up to Thunderslash and drives the dagger he has been given into his shoulder, to which Thunderslash exclaims that Malcer is just like his father.

As the dragon's body falls into Avernus, Moroz asks them to keep close to him, as, once the portal is closed, it will suck everybody in it. He gives them a bag of holding with their magic items, and they get ready to be teleported away.

In the moment the portal closes, Malcer notices Moroz smiling deviously, like he did before he teleported them the first time. He casts banishment on him, but fails, to which Moroz tells him: "Really, nice try!" as he teleports himself away, and them directly over the portal.

## Part 3

As the party is dragged into Avernus, they see their material bodies floating in the astral plane. Their astral projections fade from being translucent into a normal seeming color.

From above, they see the blood war actively being waged by ungodly numbers of demons and devils on the ground. However, they descent onto a flying piece of land chained to Avernus's land, which Lorilon immediately recognizes as a devastated version Mystilon they've visited before.

As they land near The Holy Oaktree in Mystilon, they see people gathering around them, whispering Lorilons last name: "Duskwalker".

Eleonora approaches them and greets her son, thanking him that he found a way home.

Malcer opens the bag of holding Moroz gave them and finds in there a bunch of toys.

Eleonora summons her carriage to take them home to rest. Lorilon is approached by an old wood-elf in a tethered robe, Reylon Makia, a former diplomat and sorcerer of Mystilon.

He tells Lorilon that everything will be fine, now that he is here, and that his mother did the only rational thing to keep Mystilon from annihilation. Lorilon smirks this off by asking: "By sending it to hell?", to which Reylon says that everything will be clearer once they get a rest.

The carriage takes them home, where Lorilon is greeted by his youngest brother Kovilon, who runs into his brother's arms and calling his name.

Standing among the devastated remains of his once glorious hometown, Lorilon looks at the crimson-colored sky of Avernus while the muffled sounds of the war beneath seem to continue without rest.

# Featured Characters

## Leaves

* Lorilon Duskwalker
* Darius Lonewalker
* Malcer Lynk Hornraven
* Raijin Shou Ho
* Bambara Grimmgrin

## New

* Reylon Makia
* Kovilon Duskwalker

## Returning

* Eleonora Duskwalker
* Dida Moroz
* Angmar Boulderdown
* Hondruk Thunderslash

## Mentioned

* Jhindis Uhmalvath
* Cobden Lynk