A Riff on Kitt (10/22/2022)

## Travel in a hellscape

After falling through the portal and collecting themselves, the party spent a long 3-4 days journey across a desolate wasteland filled with red skies, blood and corpse rain, and no real food. They survived thanks to Alluin creating food for them, but none of them enjoyed it. During this trip, Alluin is incredibly brooding and driving the party forward without real rest. He does see a dark-cloaked figure while meditating in a tiny hut, but this may have been a vision or illusion. Leaf is also silent during this trip and introspective. Talek seems to have lost most of his connection to Avandra in this plane and spent most of the journey trying to reconnect on some level. Ryafyrie was largely unphased by these events and sought to comfort the party with song. Fen rambled on for days over about his guilt over torching a companion. Dandellion generally closed her ears whenever anyone spoke and was found rocking back and forth frequently.

## Alescia but not Alescia

After a long journey in the red dunes, the party comes across a marble path. They quickly realize that this is very similar to the marble pathways and structure of Alescia but there are no signs of population here. Alescia generally has built-up shanty homes around the lower tiers of the city and none of those are present. At the front gate of the city, they find an obelisk instead of the statue of Alesci Quickthought (founder of Geomancy) that is usually found in Alescia. There is an inscription in the obelisk that reads:

"""

To those that come after:

There may come a time that mortals lose their way and the realm will fall into disrepair. In this end of times, look to the shards that built the world.

Those destined few, who were present from the outset, may bring them together, and thus will decide the fate of the realm.

"""

The assumption here is that the party are in fact the destined few as the blood cult has been referring to them as such. Next to the obelisk is the giant gate that leads into the tower courtyard. The party opens this gate and a ray of sunlight comes beaming out, though no sun is apparent anywhere else in the red skies. The party enters the gate.

## Riff, Sanguen, and Kitt

Upon entering the courtyard, Dandelion notices a single figure in white robes with silver engravings descending a central staircase. He wears a necklace with three triangles in a similar shape to the original ones found in Abbington that are associated with the blood cult. The party approaches slowly except for Alluin who misty steps behind this figure and threatens him, trying to find out where his brother is. The rest of the party rushes up. Talek quickly realizes that the man does not appear to pose a credible threat so they hear the man out. He introduces himself as Riff and welcomes the party to this plane, assuring them that they are safe here. Additionally, he offers them a chance to rest and eat. When the party presses him for information, he says that his master, Sanguen the Avatar of Bhaal, wishes to meet with them and will have the anwers they seek.

The party accepts this offer as they have been travelling for so long. They are taken up to the top of the tower, passing a number of other robed figures that appear to be going about their day and seem to live in this tower. Upon reaching the top floor, Alluin warns everyone not to accept anything they are offered. The rest of the party ignores this entirely. Leaf takes a nice warm bath. Dandelion and Fen find a tap with mead and proceed to help themselves while the others clean themselves up from the journey.

Riff returns to escort them to a banquet hall. Upon arrival, there are personalized place settings with meals custom made for each party member. Alluin once again warns the party not to partake and is ignored by the entire party.

Midway through the meal, a black cloaked figure appears behind Alluin and addresses the party. He introduces himself as Sanguen, Bhaal's avatar, and the leader of the blood cult and proceeds to divulge information about how he came to be here through a series of visions, similar to the ones the party have been experiencing.

The party learns the following key bits of information:

- Alesci Quickthoughts, the "founder" of geomancy was not a quirky scholar as he is depicted in the histories, he was a violent madman who used the power of the realm shards to wreak havoc

- Geomancy, the school of magic supposedly discovered by Alesci, is actually a form blood magic used to activate the realm shards, and it has a "threshold" which the Inquisitors have been toying with for years, the cost of which is implied to be disastrous for the realm.

- The Inquisitors have been running a "blood bank", an underground prison deep below Alescia where they have imprisoned blood magic users and are using their blood to fuel the demand for realm shards.

- Sanguen gained his powers when he found his wife murdered by the Inquisitors of the blood bank; retaliation for resisting giving his "donation" of blood. Bhaal (The god of blood, murder, and revenge) reached out to him, and granted him a portion of his power, which he used to kill an Inquisitor, tear open a gateway to this realm, and allow his people to escape. The "blood bank" was seen collapsing after this

- Alluin's brother Eldrin was seen in this vision in the garb of an Inquisitor of the Blood Bank, as well as someone who looks just like Kitt Freestep (and has now been identified as Abraxas, Sanguen's right hand).

After some discussion, Sanguen leads the party to the chamber they have seen in their visions of the Blood Bank, and shows them the realm shards they have recovered so far. After repeating his request that the party side with the blood cult and fight against the Inquisitors to help "set the realm right again", he opens a portal and sends them back to Alescia.