Arc VI: The Tides of Hell

## Arc VI Characters

* Cyprus [He/Him] (Played by Rachel - She/Her)- A Loxodon Alchemist Artificer. Cyprus is a simple man, he worked in his shop, and loved his wife, a Giff woman named Daphenelle. But after losing his wife he turned his sights to adventuring in order to speed up the process of seeing his wife again while also doing some good.
* Martin Spleif [He/Him] (Played by Jeremy - He/Him)- A Human multi class of Circle of Stars Druid and Tempest Domain Cleric. Martin is a cunning man, taking deals and offers left and right in order to gain more power. Cruel and vindictive, he works hard, for a reward.

## Arc VI Synopsis:

### Session 1: The Releasing Ritual

In the city of Dawnfall, there is a small adventuring company, not unlike every city in Hyranor at this time. The country is in chaos under the rule of its Second King, with minsters roaming the land, ready to kill anyone who leaves the safety of the established cities. Thus, not many people leave or come to Dawnfall without an established escort. So the adventuring company rarely saw any action, until one day when a Goblin by the name of Bixelbong Borble cannot arrange other travel and knows he can pay cheap for their work. He hires them to take him to the city of Tyle so he can get back to work.

On their journey to Tyle, Cyprus, Martin and their ally Azarath Mountainbreaker pass the time playing games, until suddenly they are stopped by a hooded figure who they are able to recognize as one of King Benril's Chosen Heroes, who take on large tasks. The man introduces himself as Alotheus, and tells them they need to leave. At the same time, Martin has sent his familiar into the nearby forest after hearing strange chanting coming from within. He sees a large group of people gathering around a group of 5 pillars, each with a person chained to it.

After some brief introductions, Alotheus hesitantly brings the three fellow adventurers with him, knowing they are going to need all the help they can get. They meet Emerald Lovejoy and KA-C3 or "Kasey" before being explained to that this is a ritual happening that needs to be stopped. The group splits in order to cause a disturbance so that Emerald can break the magic barrier around the pillars. As they fight their way through the crowd of cultists, each one of the people tied to the pillars is killed, with only one left alive as Emerald finally breaks the barrier. Some clever work by Martin almost saves them, but the last cultist is able to kill the final person tied to the pillar. Despite the ritual being complete, it goes awry as all 5 should have been killed by the ceremonial knives instead of magic. Not only that but Emerald taps into more power than she can handle, casting the Wish spell in order to stop one of the creatures that were breaking out of The Hell Portal created by the Ritual.

4 of the 5 beings are able to escape, while the one Emerald targeted with her spell is trapped within the body of a house cat. Emerald unfortunately could not survive after the amount of power that channeled through her body. Not only that but Azarath and Alotheus were left in critical condition. Despite all of this, they were able to get themselves and the cat to the home of The Chosen Heroes in Tyle. After a nights rest everything was explained to the two stowaways.

The ritual, although somewhat messed up by the party, specifically Emerald's sacrifice, was ultimately successful. Asmodeus, the King of Hell, had been released, along with his Four Horsemen. These 5 beings together could spell the end of the world, but thanks to Emeralds' and Martins' efforts, one of the Horsemen was trapped inside the body of a cat, and the other Horsemen and Asmodeus were scattered around the continent. The grand master of the Arcane Academy had heard of a ritual that could be performed to lock Asmodeus back into his box. The cat then confirms this, with a little encouragement from Martin, stating that each Horseman has a ring that when combined with the others, could reopen Asmodeus' cage and put him back in. The cat, after being successfully conned into believing the adventurers were all his servants, introduces himself as The Horseman of Death, Levistus. He also questions if their loyalty is to Hell or Asmodeus, hinting that he may way to take over as King in his place if he is locked up again. The group decide its best to work with Levistus in order to put the Devil back in his cage.

### Session 2: Hunting the Horsemen

After a weeks worth of rest with no news of anything hellish happening, Cyprus and Martin are once again summoned into The Chosen Heroes meeting chamber, where Ruax and a still very injured Alotheus tell them that they've gotten strange reports from 3 of the major cities in Hyranor. Demonic Possession in Sunwell, people turning into monsters in Ravensrest and the town of Solaris throwing its once every 5 year festival 3 years too early.

The two are asked to investigate each of these cities to see if they can find the other Horsemen, and more importantly their rings, in order to lock Asmodeus back into his cage. The two use the teleportation circle in the building in order to travel to Sunwell, leaving Levistus to be watched over by Ruax, Alotheus and Kasey.

The two find themselves in the center of town for just a moment before Cyprus is hit by a bullet fired from the "Sheriff" of Sunwell, another Warforged known as J3-BB or "Jebb". After being convinced that the two aren't demons or possessed by them, he takes them to a Saloon on the south side of town where he explains that half the town was suddenly possessed by Demons, and tried to kill them. They all managed to get away but the Demons are hiding out in the Northern part of town, gearing up to strike. Jebb wants to go with them to stop them, but has an obligation to his people, so the two adventurers carry on into the Northern part of town.

They make their way through back allies, staying invisible as they hear voices within the Inn on the northern side of the city. They break into the building and find a similar set up the Saloon to the south. Lots of scared injured folk just trying to survive, with one man trying to convince them that they need to go and fight back against the people in the Saloon that are possessed and kill them before they are killed themselves. Cyprus and Martin try to influence this man, but their invisibility makes him believe that he is hearing demons and riles the crowd to attack. The two cover the exits and realize that everyone in the town is being tricked, and that no one was ever possessed, just made to think the others were.

As soon as the words escape Martins lips, a child in the back of the room begins to clap, before slowly changing into the form of a fallen Angel with burnt wings and a sword at his side. He congratulates the two adventurers for figuring out his little scheme. Explaining that as the Horseman of War, he isn't afraid to fight, but that it is far easier to plant fear into mortals and watch them take each other out. He has the beginnings of an idea as to why they are there and explains that if they wanna put his father back in the box, they need his ring, and that they will have to impress him in a one on one fight, no damaging magic, duel. Martin volunteers, taking a rapier that the Angel creates out of molten rock.

The Horseman of War, Zariel and Martin engage in a duel, but Zariel is quickly overpowered in the weakened form he has taken in order to give him a chance, and stops the fight all together, handing over his ring before taunting them that it won't be so easy if they get in his way again, before flying off, thus breaking the spell on the people of Sunwell.

With a thanks from Jebb, the two then continue North to Ravensrest, taking a few days to travel and to witness many villages having being burnt down or destroyed completely, and seeing the toll the Horsemen are making upon the planet.

The front gate to the City of Ravensrest is open when they get there, with no guards present. Fog hangs low to the ground throughout the town, as the entire city has gone dark, except for a green light coming from The Lords Keep. As they travel through the town, they encounter the people of the city who have been transformed into various beasts. They try and stop one werewolf from eating a mother and child bit soon realize that they could do this all night, and that their main goal is to spread as far through the city as they can before being stopped. When they enter The Lords Keep they find it transformed into an Alchemical marvel, with dozens of potions and elixirs all being brewed at once by a snakelike demon. He pays them little mind as they enter, treating them as far less important then the various experiments surrounding him. When Martin asks to make a deal with him he scoffs, saying that they don't have anything that he wants or would be worth his ring, which he has put together that they are after. Even when bragging that he had defeated War, Mammon, The Horseman of Pestilence is not impressed. He does however notice that Cyprus is amazed by all of the work he is able to get done, asking how he is able to do so much. Giving the simple explanation of time. He has had millennia to work on Demons and Devils, and wants to keep experimenting here in the Material Plane for as long as he can. He pulls out a vial of liquid as an example, saying that all this does is kill things from Hell, but he doesn't know what it does to creatures of the Material Plane yet. He gives them a single offer. Drink the potion, and get his ring. All he wants is to know what it does.

Volunteering himself, Cyprus looks at a picture of his departed wife, suspecting his death may await him, and drinks the vial. Cyprus feels no effect of the potion but Mamon laughs at the irony of his situation, asking about his wife. When he learns the full story he apologizes, saying that Cyprus will never be with his departed again, because he is now immortal, and cannot die.

Continuing back to Tyle, the report their successes and unfortunate dealings to Alotheus and Ruax while also picking up Levistus, who insists on going with them this time since he wasn't happy with how he was cared for when they left.

Taking another ride in the teleported, they end up in the port of Solaris near the dining area that is set up for the Festival. They find people gorging themselves, while others are obsessively playing games in the games street, and some file in and out of the mirror maze over and over again or pet the same petting zoo animals. Hearing fighting within the tent that Snowdrop usually takes place in, they enter to find people killing and maiming each other, both within the arena and around the stands, all while a beautiful woman with devilish wings and horns sits on the Ringmasters chair cheering the crowd on.

As soon as the party enters, the beautiful woman greets the pair, introducing herself as Glasya. Levistus scoffs at her from his perch in Cyprus's front overalls pocket, as she is his sister. Glasya pays this no mind and she insists the group join the revelry, attempting to charm them, though ultimately unsuccessful. She pouts before coming down and pushing them into chairs in the stands. She introduces herself as the Horseman of Famine and explains that they were able to get the other rings because the Horsemen were all stupid or had ulterior motives. All she wants however, is to help her father. Martin scoffs at this, taunting her and calling her a daddies girl while insulting her intelligence claiming that her father couldn't care less about her, just the power she holds that can help with his goals. In a fit of desperation she not only throws her ring to them, but also opens a portal to Cania in order for them to get the Sealing Spell from Mephistopheles. Before leaving she tells them that if her father asks, she was simply overpowered.

The two jump through the portal with Levistus, determined to fill in the final pieces the they needed to save the world.

### Session 3: How to: Sealing Ritual

Surrounded by a never ending snowstorm, Cyprus, Martin and Levistus find themselves at the foot of a mountain in Cania. They each take a different approach to scaling the mountain, with Martin summoning an eagle to carry him and Levistus to the top, while Cyprus turns himself into a gas cloud to float to the top. As they reach the top and head towards a tower at the top, Cyprus returns to normal and falls taking some fall damage, while Martin is able to land more gracefully.

Once inside the tower, they are greeted by Mephistopheles, and ask him to give them the spell to reseal Asmodeus. He agrees, as long as they can get through his tower to prove that they are worthy and capable of being the ones who seal him away. He takes Levistus with him, leaving them to find their way up the tower.

On the first floor they are greeted by a Gnomish woman who asks them to make her a cup of coffee with LOVE. Cyprus correctly deduces that the secret of the coffee is in the ingredients, using Lancaster’s Coffee beans, Oat Milk, Vanilla and Earl’s Vodka while Martin is caught up in trying to make the true perfect cup of coffee. Once she is given the correct cup, a staircase appears leading to the next floor.

Once there, they try to walk forward but are faced by a group of tiles each with a letter on it written in Infernal. Being the only one who could put the language together, Cyprus is able to learn that he needs to spell out Mephistopheles on the ground by stepping on the tiles. Martin is not much of a learned man so he struggles trying to help with this one. Once they both cross they are able to climb the stairs to the next room.

Inside this floor are three statues and three weapons on the floor. The two work together to find which weapons belong to which statue and are for one of the few times this day, are able to work well together and use the clues to move on to the next room.

In the final room, the two see the other seemingly disappear and get replaced with something that they hate. Cyprus sees the Owlbear that killed his wife while Martin sees The Horseman of War Zariel asking for a rematch. They fight their demons, literally and figuratively until they are able to see through the illusion and realize that they are really fighting each other. Mephistopheles appears and tells them that only one person can learn the spell, and that he wants them to fight for who will learn it. Martin is able to handily defeat Cyprus, and earns the knowledge of how to cast the spell. Cyprus is deafened while hearing the process and I unable to hear what the ingredients are.

Mephistopheles gives the ingredients as follows:

1. The source of The Horseman’s Power
2. The blood of 5 witnesses to the release
3. The broken pieces of a promise
4. The sacrifice of the spells caster

Realizing what that means for him, Martin decides to keep the final ingredient to himself, telling Cyprus the rest of them and that the spell must be cast in the same spot that they were released from. The two head back to The Material Plane and begin gathering the ingredients for the spell. The blood comes from Cyprus, Martin, Alotheus, Kasey and Levistus, and the pieces of a promise come from the glass of Cyprus’ locket containing a picture of his wife. Martin takes hold of teh ingredients and has a short conversation with Cyprus confirming that they are really going to do this, as well as agreeing to get a drink together once it was all done. Martin agrees, with a small knot in his stomach forming, knowing what he must do.

While Cyprus takes care of the preperation, Martin and Levistus step a little further into the forest to talk. Levistus explains that he knows what he isn’t telling Cyprus and that he could help him when facing Asmodeus. Martin agrees, killing the cat vessel that Levistsus had been trapped in and releasing him, allowing himself to be possessed by the Horseman and feeling the immediate power boost.

As the two joined souls walk back into the clearing, the find Asmodeus standing there, having sensed Levistus’ release from his trapped form. He summons the other horsemen while Martin/Levistus play along for long enough to get close enough to say the incantation and use the ingredients to cast the spell. Martin/Levistus float in the air grappling each other while being slowly sucked into the newly created portal into The Cage, while the other Horsemen hang on for dear life. Cyprus makes his way to where they are holding on and promises them that if they help get their father resealed that they don’t have to go into the cage with him, and pulls them up when they agree to help. The Four Horsemen work together to make sure that Martin and their father are resealed. At the very last moment, Martin and Cyprus link minds through Levistus, and he asks Cyprus that though it may be a long time before they see one another again, to save that drink for him. Levistus then leaves Martins body and flees into Cyprus’ in order to not be resealed into the cage with them.

The portal closes and Martin and Asmodeus are gone, while the Horsemen and what’s left of The Chosen Heroes stand in a clearing. Zariel, Glasya and Mammon each find their own ways, but eventually end back up in Hell, becoming the Lords of Avernus, Malbolge and Minarous respectively. While Cyprus and Levistus vow that this will never happen again and remain on the Material Plane in order to fight off anyone who tries to reopen The Cage.

## Arc VI Trivia:

* The theme of this Arc is Legacy, and how the perception of your actions change over time
* This Arc was thought up as a sort of “group of fools save the world” and in the current era none of the specifics are remembered by the people and the PC’s are seen as legendary heroes