91. Soul Train

* The party, alongside their new allies -- Zadimus the vampire, Ilphas the elf, currently Zadimus's charmed thrall, and the tongueless fire giant Ingvild -- have escaped the Bagrellan Estate and, using Aerendyl's wind walk and Clwyd's genie-granted sense of direction, travelled to Scrivens Station, where they intend to board the soul-powered Hell Train that will take them to the Umbral Market.
* The station proves to be a massive, sprawling mess of iron and stained glass, filled to the brim with an inter-planar hodgepodge of commuting patrons.
	+ The party get in line to buy tickets for the trains heading out of their ringdom of Dis; they know they must travel to Marrow Central Station, located in the Marrow Thousandth on the Fifth Ringdom of Dis.
	+ While in the fairly long queue, they see signage for the different fares on offer:
		- Wretch Class: where you work on the train for a week and get paid 1 soul coin at the end of it.
		- Scum Class: 1 soul clipping per ringdom hopped.
		- Imp Class: 1 soul coin per ringdom hopped.
		- Mid Class: 3 soul coins per ringdom hopped.
		- Duke Class: 10 soul coins per ringdom hopped.
	+ Immediately, Pyt and Zadimus both are massive advocates for going in Duke Class. There's a bit of debate but the pair are ultimately successful in persuading the others that the privacy of the private carriages that this hellish version of first class offers would be well worth it for them.
	+ When they arrive at the front of the queue, Pyt goes up to the counter to speak for the group, quickly learning that the Tiefling clerk speaks Undercommon -- an obscure language that the group is surprised to learn Pyt knows.
	+ Pyt tries to blag a discount for the large group but the clerk is unswayed.
	+ For seven on them travelled across the borders of four ringdoms all to travel in Duke Class costs the group 280 soul coins, a hefty price indeed, even with their generous Spritefriend allowances weighing them down. Still, they pay, and Pyt receives a small receipt with instructions on how to use it to pick up his flesh ticket.
	+ They push through the crowd, with Ingvild's massive size aiding them immensely, and make their way towards their platform.
	+ Along the way, Pyt goes to a counter where he makes to trade the receipt for the group's proper ticket. He's asked if he'd prefer 'seeing or unseeing,' to which he says 'seeing.' Next he's asked if he has a preference for 'speaking or unspeaking' and opts for 'speaking.' Soon after, the attendant presents the bulbous, fleshy mass of a lemure; its eyes sewn shut, its mouth agape and giving off a soft, continuous moan, and its flesh entirely covered by the sharp-lined runes that denoted the details of the group's trip.
	+ Pyt takes the waist-high flesh ticket in hand and leads it back to the group, who are left dumbfounded by the sight of the tragic creature and Pyt's smiling nonchalance as he leads it.
	+ As they head further through the station, Aerendyl notes a chitinous, canine-like quadruped that he's sure is following them. It's a netherlasher, a creature capable to preventing teleportation from occurring near it; a creature the party were told one of the bounty hunters in the area that might be attracted to them makes use of. Aerendyl doesn't make a fuss, but stays alert for the time being, and neither the bounty hunter nor the netherlasher make a move while the party are in the station.
* The party and their allies arrive at their platform. The Hell Train itself appears to have been chiselled from a single enormous piece of dark rock, all sharp angles and sleek, black sides. A well-dressed, well-spoken tiefling attendant greets them all, takes their flesh ticket and feeds it into a grinder in the train's side. Its screams are piercing and horrible. And with its death, the seamless side of the train slides open and they are admitted within.
	+ A short walk later and they arrive in their private, duke class carriage. It's a truly incredible space. There's a beautiful lounge, filled with plush chairs that can even accommodate Invild's significant size; a library annex filled with all manner of books; a fully-stocked bar and open kitchen staffed by blind and deaf humanoids, as well as an enormous tome filled with food and drinks that can be ordered from them by tapping codes onto their palms; rooms sized for each of them, complete with double beds and mini bars, all tucked away in alcoves on the walls with curtains that can be drawn for privacy; and a series of bells on the wall indicating further services they can order: library service, narcotics, massages, succubi, tailor's services, and general inquiries.
	+ Zadimus orders himself some choice blood, served in a splendid goblet.
	+ Ingvild sits in the corner, mostly keeping to herself. She drinks mead from the barrel, which she can fit in a fist with ease.
	+ Wilfred eyes up the drinks for a bit and, having tried marid's claret soon after the party first arrived in Dis, takes down two magnums, one of the dao's claret and one of the efreet's claret. The former, being of the earth genies, is a beautiful green and brown bottle, and Wilfred wristpockets it for his little brownie buddy. The efreet's claret is warm and smokes slightly. Wilfred starts sharing it out.
	+ Pyt rings the appropriate bell and is quickly brought a dish with many different powdered drugs for his choosing. He picks at random and ends up with some quite strong stimulants, which he only figures out through the taking.
* When they're comfortable and intoxicated, Zadimus and the party sit together and start swapping stories.
	+ Aerendyl asks Zadimus what he meant by 'the Longing,' which he'd mentioned back in his prison cell in regards to Ilphas's enfeebled state. Zadimus plays up the pantomime of it all as he does so, but explains the story well enough: elves, he says, are tied to the natural world around them. This manifests clearly in Faerie, where the seasons are geography and where the elves, that is, the eladrin, wear the seasons as if they were cloaks. The two queens had warred for a time, Zadimus continued, and when Titania erected her barrier, it was quite a sudden thing. A great many eladrin were caught on the wrong side of it, separated from what was now Faerie, their land and home, and cast adrift in the realm of Terca Mahres. They searched for a way back for a long time, but most of these wandering tribes were unsuccessful in their quest. And eventually they started falling ill: the strength would leave their bodies, they'd be unresponsive, and they'd cry out in pain at the slightest of touches. They has been too long separated from the natural world that was a part of them. This was the Longing. The solution they eventually came to was to give up their beloved Faerie, to use their protean natures that had always allowed them to cycle through what seasons they wore and manifested, and to tie themselves to new, smaller pieces of nature on this side of the barrier. Thus they underwent their Final Changes, and they were no longer eladrin. They tied themselves to the woods, to the seas, to the sand, to the snow, and they became the elves and the ancestors of the elves that inhabit Terca Mahres to this day.
	+ Zadimus points out that Ilphas has been too long gone from Faerie and so he has fallen into the Longing. So he'll remain as he currently is until he either returns to that realm or makes his Final Change to tie himself to a new piece of nature.
	+ By the end of Zadimus's story, Clwyd is quite drunk. Feeling more free with her words, she talks about her and the party's dealings with witches, ending with her talking about her deal with Phigalia's spirit.
	+ With the group speaking freely and more comfortable with one another, Zadimus mentions Aerendyl's Collar of the Hound, the dark leather choker Nix had bought for the elf. The vampire says that it suggests Aerendyl is promised to an infernal house. The group freaks out for a little bit and then get Zadimus to elaborate. He tells them that with each use, the collar would become more intoxicating and after the ninth use, Aerendyl wouldn't be able to turn back into an elf again. At that point, he'd be a hell hound in the possession of the household he'd got the collar from. Soon after, he'd forget that he'd ever been anything other than a hell hound.
	+ Aerendyl removes the collar immediately after hearing the story, cursing Nix once again. It requires an effort of will to pry the collar from his neck, but Aerendyl had only made use of the hell hound form 4 times and so doesn't have too much difficulty in getting the thing off. He intends to sell it at the market, and then also doubts the safety of the upgraded Brimstone Cloak, since it had also come to him via Nix.
	+ Pyt fills the silence by talking about how he was bested and charmed by Cana the vampire, how things were looking bad for him and the party as a result, and how Nix saved him and them from that - and then angled for Pyt to sign an infernal contract. That led Pyt to asking some witches how to get out of it, which led to Pyt getting hold of a genie, which in turn led to everyone ending up in the Hells.
	+ Pyt also mentions that he had a kid with a succubus and Zadimus happily dubs him 'Fiend Father,' telling him the best liesmiths always carry a great many titles and names with them.
	+ Aerendyl asks Zadimus if he knows what the Makers of Eden are; the elf had heard their name mentioned when looking into vampire dealings surrounding Skyburn for Cormorant's sake, back on Tortuga, oh so long ago. Zadimus tells them that the Court of Midnight, Faerie's intimidating vampire court, is made up of many different factions. The Makers of Eden are an extremist group, even by the standards of vampires. They seek the removal of Titania's barrier as well as the sinking of Terca Mahres's sun, such that the world is drenched in eternal night, thus becoming their paradise, their Eden.
	+ Zadimus also mentions that the Court of Midnight are massively elitist and that there's long been conflict between them and Mother Shandy, who, unlike the powerful vampires of the Court, was not a natural-born vampire. She was once a thrall, and somehow partook in the blood of her sire. Though she's since grown into an immensely powerful vampire in her own right, the upper echelons of the Court could never accept one such as her.
	+ It also comes out that Zadimus himself was a natural born vampire, that's he's mid-ranked in the Court, as attested to by his ability to charm non-humanoid creatures such as devils, and that he feels like he'll eventually have to head back to the Court at some point, though he certainly doesn't feel in a hurry to do so. In general, Zadimus is pretty reluctant to think on or speak about the future, especially with regards to the prospect of giving up one of his eyes.
	+ The group talk about how the Kraken is threatening to be released as a result of the River King's manipulation and their witch killing. Further, with the last remaining witch so rage-filled and conflict hungry, she might already be ill fit to maintain any sort of seal or barrier. Zadimus likens it to trying to rebuild a lock with worn and shoddy parts; at some point, rather than repairing and rebuilding it, perhaps the seal will have to be broken such than a new seal can be properly put in place.
	+ The group also briefly discuss what it might mean for Titania to lower her barrier -- the River King wants this and has been aiming for it, presumably the Gloaming Court wants this, and now it's come out that an extremist group in the Court of Midnight also want this.
	+ When the conversation again lulls, Pyt pulls out a jar filled with strands of his hair. He tells everyone to pick one and to snap them. The group does so and are soon flooded with a stored memory of the bard's, which he's apparently been documenting and keeping in this way so that he'll have a legacy if he dies. Most of the experiences are mundane, but Clwyd sees a moving, emotive memory of Pyt sat around a dinner table with Riss. The latter has died and returned as an undead grim jester. She wears the illusion of her old, living self and Pyt is working hard to pretend that the illusion is reality.
* The group settle into their carriage as the train hurtles along on their multi-day journey.
	+ After the first night's sleep, Wilfred makes sure to cast private sanctum for them.
	+ They spend a day with a tailor in the room making them new outfits:
		- Wilfred gets a shiftweave suit made that allows him to cycle between fancy outfits appropriate to the Hells (a buttom-up red robe), Faerie's Dawn and Dusk courts, an outfit appropriate for the Rumidian capital city, and a typical Terca Oscura outfit.
		- Clwyd gets a study set of travel clothes in neutral tones.
		- Pyt gets a strange coat made.
		- Zadimus gets himself a fancy, flowing outfit with large collars and lapels.
		- Ingvild, through Wilfred's assistance and the telepathic bond, gets herself some warrior's leathers, complete with a skirt of leather strips to go over her breeches.
	+ Wilfred casts *Gentle* *Repose* on the amnizu corpse so they can hopefully get a better price for it in the market.
	+ They ask Zadimus to go into his private room and then Wilfred spends some time cracking the puzzle box the amnizu wore around its neck. When he's solved it, it slides open and he's near blinded by the sunlight that shines forth from within. Feeling around in the little octagonal box, Wilfred notes that there's a small ball or bead in there, the source of the light. He closes the puzzle, sealing the light up again, and leaves it near fully solved so they can open it with ease in the future.
	+ Each night, Pyt eyes up the succubi-summoning chain, but manages to restrain himself.
	+ Wilfred requests a number of spellbooks from the library services and spends most of his time on the journey parsing out and then copying new spells into his own spellbook.
	+ A quick sending conversation with Poop during the trip reveals the strange and somewhat ominous notion that whatever Poop has been working on in the party's absence 'is growing.' He's excited to show it off to Wilfred and the others and asks that they hurry back.
* After five nights in their private carriage, the train arrives at Marrow Central Station.
	+ Wilfred puts *Nondetection* of himself, Aerendyl, Clwyd, and Pyt.
	+ They're shown off the train, quickly make their way through the station, and start heading the Aranok Bridge, where the Umbral Market waits.
	+ As they head away from the station, the crowds thin out a bit and it becomes apparent that this part of Dis isn't nearly as crowded and busy as the central ringdom was.
	+ They walk for some time and as they do, Aerendyl sees two things: firstly, the netherlasher from Scrivens Station is following behind them; and secondly, a large metallic spider-like construct is watching and following from the rooftops. The former he knows to be the pet of the Huntsman, the shaytan bounty hunter. The latter is the property and creation of the Tinker, the gnomish bounty hunter they'd be warned of. In short, though Duke Class had indeed meant they were unmolested on their journey as Pyt had suggested when buying the tickets, the bounty hunters had followed them all the way here.
	+ When Aerendyl tells the others, Pyt tries leading the pursuit away using his *Mislead* spell. But the effort doesn't work.
	+ The group decides it would be best to deal with this conclusively rather than leading it to the market, which is supposed to serve as their cover in escaping Dis.
	+ They travel down some sidestreets, find a plaza surrounded on three sides by iron buildings and dotted with metal trees, and there they wait, pretending to have an argument.
	+ They're attacked soon after, the two bounty hunters and their loyal minions apparently having formed an agreement and fighting together against the group.
	+ The Huntsman makes use of a powerful poisonous dagger, a crossbow with the ability to apply a variety of troubling effects to the bolts he fires, and an invisibility field he could activate regularly. Zadimus managed to lock the creature down and then tanked a tonne of damage from him.
	+ The Tinker flew about inside his helmed horror armour, which afforded him a tonne of magic resistances. Pyt tried to lightning bolt him but the armour had been prepared so that it was immune to the spell; Clwyd tried hexing and then eldritch blasting him, but the armour was immune to both necrotic and force damage; they tried charming him but again the armour was immune; and even when they just tried to hit him, the armour proved to also be quite sturdy. He made use of a temperamental wrist-mounted flame thrower and a powerful shotgun-like 'arcane boomstick'.
	+ The netherlasher followed commands from the Huntsman, lashing out with its incredibly long, barbed tongue when at a distance, or just scratching and biting when up close. Further, its presence alone prevented them from teleporting away.
	+ The spider followed the Tinker's spoken commands, lashing out with its sword-like forelegs and blasting people at a distance with a beam of pure kinetic force.
	+ The fight really wasn't going well for the group -- especially since they could hardly scratch the Tinker or his construct, the netherlasher prevented them fleeing through teleports, and the Huntsman proved to be very tanky himself.
	+ But the tide turned when Pyt waited for the showboating of the Tinker to be the gnomish bounty hunter's undoing. Periodically, the gnome would have his helmet pop up so he could gloat. Pyt waited for that and then successfully cast Suggestion on him, making him take his armour off and 'come down and fight like a man'. The Tinker held his arms up in a T-pose right where he was in midair, and then expelled all his armour in pieces. He hit the ground hard, scrambled back to his feet with a panicked look on his face, and was suddenly not nearly so much of a threat.
	+ The spider, apparently following core programming, rushed over to web up and then store the Tinker's armour, foregoing any attacks as it did so.
	+ Zadimus successfully charmed the Tinker after that, the Huntsman said aloud that the group did indeed make for good hunting before turning invisible and taking his leave, and everyone piled on the netherlasher, quickly killing it.
	+ Zadimus had the Tinker send the spider after the Huntsman and when the construct was gone, killed the Tinker by drinking his blood, recovering some small amount of the vitality he'd lost through the big damage the Huntsman had inflicted on him.
* With one bounty hunter dead and the other scared off, the group continued on to Aranok Bridge. Going down to the riverside, they stepped under the Styx-spanning bridge, into its shadow.
	+ As they'd been instructed in the Sylvan Embassy, Pyt scratched two long vertical lines on the shadow-clad wall, then joined them at the top with a shorter horizontal line, forming a door.
	+ He knocked thrice and then twice and soon after a slot slid away from the middle of the inpromptu door at head height.
	+ The metal face of an iron golem stared back at them, said nothing more than 'how many?' in a tinny, whistling automaton's voice, and then thrust out seven sheets of paper through the slot when they answered.
	+ These were contracts they had to sign to gain entry to the Umbral Market. Each one stipulated the following:
		- 'I shall start no fight for the length of my stay in the market.'
		- 'I shall not steal in the market. I shall negotiate terms of exchange beforehand and pay in full at the time agreed.'
		- 'For the duration of my stay in the market, I shall contact none outside of it. After I leave the market, I shall not speak of it until at least 3 nights have passed since my departure.'
		- 'I shall not solicit warlocks in the market!'
		- And then the contract explained that the breaking of any of these rules forfeits all worldly possessions, the person's soul and autonomy, the souls of those in their party, and the souls of their first born, all to the market's ringleader, Ibrahim.
	+ The group all sign the contracts. As soon as Pyt has done so, the runes burn away from the page, leaving it a blank piece of paper. His wish! After a brief moment of despair, they ask the golem if it would be ok for someone else to sign-by-proxy. It says that would be permissible and gives them another contract that allowed for another person's signature. Clwyd signs for Pyt, and they hand all their contracts back through the slot.
	+ The golem looks at Ingvild and says 'one moment please'. The slot closes in the shadow door and then a large piece of the wall slides open like a warehouse entrance. The group are quickly ushered inside and the entrance is closed behind them. They'd arrived at the Umbral Market at last.