The Marraenoloth guided the massive iceberg back across the endless icy seas of Stygia, back up the hidden tributary of the Styx, and then upstream against the current of the mighty waters. After re-emerging back into the Styx proper, the pranksters Baazel and Dwaazel again began to hector our heroes with insults and crass jokes.
Shortly past the incoming checkpoint the group endured on their way into Stygia, their boatman guided them into a pitch dark cave. After several hours in darkness (and more abuse from the obnoxious imps) the temperature began to rise steadily. By the time they emerged from the darkness of the long tunnel a fiery orange glow suffused the air, illuminating the city of Abriymoch, capital of Phlegethos.
The glow came from the magma surrounding… well, everything. Abriymoch was built on rocks jutting from the lava of an active volcano’s caldera, with many smaller empty or single occupancy islands dotting the pool of liquid orange fire like a dusting of sugar on a cookie. Some larger satellite islands were home to important devils and some manufacturing facilities but the majority of the city was situated on two enormous islands of stone.
Looking down, the party realized that their barge was no longer an iceberg, but instead a vessel crafted of the Baatorian Green Steel. This infernal metal, a major advantage for the devils in their Blood War with the Tanar’ri, was likely invented at the steelworks (marked on their crude map) by Paerza of the Dark Eight.
The magma itself, the legendary Fires of Phlegethos, bubbled and spat as the group cruised steadily onward. The hungry flames proved to live up to their reputation, as droplets and spatters from the lake of fire splattered onto the barge constantly. In fact the questing tendrils of lava would have burned the party again and again were they not protected by the terms of their hellish compact with Levistus. That compact would bring them back here when they completed it, without the protection of an Archduke’s power…
The barge soon docked at a quay on the largest island. Like any city with port traffic, there were people and not-people at the docking area. Silverfox Clooney quickly flagged down a passing efreeti to ask for some information. Jarlaxl the Djinnbane he styled himself, and Clooney was able to talk him into showing the group where on the map they had to go.
Jarlaxl seemed to think the idea of the party going for the orb hilarious, remarking that “everyone knows where the blasted thing is, good luck getting it,” and laughing uproariously as he strolled away.
Their transport barge and the Marraenoloth pilot were bound to bring them to this layer and back, not ferry them around once they got here, so Karl was obliged to use magic for transport. Since the spot marked on their map was empty lava teleporting was out, so the group opted to fly out.
Arriving, they found a small rocky outcropping and stairs leading downward, beneath the scorching lava. The steps led down an unlit tunnel of unknown stone, expertly crafted together.
None of the group being dwarves, they weren’t sure exactly how deep they went, but not to extreme depths. Maybe 30 to 50 feet down, the steps ended and a long dark hallway lay before our heroes.
Midway up the hall, maybe a couple hundred feet ahead, a portion of the corridor was bathed in a soft white light. Oddly this light did not propagate up the hallway toward them. While visible to the party it seemed to just stop at an unseen border.
As they moved into the light, Karl and Koichi met resistance, each step more difficult than the last until, after 8 steps they could not continue. James and Silverfox had no such trouble. Searching the area, nothing was in evidence, but James soon found a false panel in the stone wall. Sliding it back revealed a stone ball perched at the top of a series of eight chutes zigzagging downward.
At the urging of Koichi, James pushed the marble onto the chute, and the light abruptly cut off. Koichi and Karl were able to move forward in the darkness, but when the stone ball hit the bottom, it teleported back to the top and the light again trapped the two.
They got through this section of the corridor by simply rolling the marble down again and having the two spellcasters charge through the lighted area at a run.
The hallway continued for the same distance past the strange lighted area before opening up into a much wider chamber, with a huge black floor and stream of lava flowing along opposite walls parallel to the hallway.
As the group entered the chamber, doors closed at either end of the hallway and spotlights fell on four statues on either side rising out of the lava. Huge statues of pit fiends, in fact these were images of the Dark Eight themselves. Fiery script appeared in the air before the party.
“It’s War!” The script proclaims. “The hordes of The Abyss attack! The legions require direction. The Dark Eight must be deployed in command positions to maximize their tactical mastery of the battlefield.”
At the same time, the floor slid away beneath the feet of the group, and below a gibbering, endless horde of demons driven mad assaulted the very gates of Baator itself, with the arrayed legions of devils seeming a pitifully overmatched defense.
A grid of glowing red, with each rank marked by a number and each file by a letter, overlaid the illusory battlefield below. A small obelisk with corresponding letters and numbers marked on it appeared in front of the group.
The script went on to explain that the Dark Eight, beings of exceptional power, could attack continuously in eight directions. If one appeared in the path of another’s attack, though, its full firepower would not come to bear in the battle and the hordes would be triumphant. If each of the Dark Eight could be placed with a continuous line of attack, the legions’ tactical superiority would sweep the field.
Silverfox was the first of the group to manipulate the obelisk, pressing A and then 1. A booming voice roared “Baalzephon, Grand Logistician takes the field!” While a statue, nearest to the group on the left side of the room, burst skyward with a huge sweep of wings, quickly streaking out of sight. Half a breath later, fully armed and armored, Baalzephon rocketed back down to the indicated square, landing in an explosion of claws, tail slaps, and wing buffets all around, while calling lines of fireballs down in eight lines radiating outward, scorching demons from the field.
The legions of hell far below rallied with this assault, pushing the horde back, claiming the first file of coordinates.
When Silverfox touched B8 next, the voice announced “Corin, Master of Shadows, charges to battle!” And the next statue in line burst forth like the last, only when it landed, the demonic assault found a flaw in the devilish defences and swept the legions clear back to the gates. The deployed members of the Dark Eight returned to their positions as statues.
The group pondered and explored solutions, using trial and error, logic, and problem solving skills. Each time they chose a tactically sound position, the legions advanced further, and each new member of the Dark Eight in turn was announced as they took the field.
Dagos, Marshall of the Pits; Furcas, Minister of Mortals; Paerza, Chief of Engineering; Zaebos, Marshall of Advancement; Zapan, Ambassador to Gods; and finally Zimimar, Minister of Morale. When this last joined the fray, the legions pushed the horde from the field entirely, keeping inviolate the gates of Avernus – and opening the door to the next chamber.
The next chamber was a short, narrow corridor. As soon as all four of the group entered, the door closed behind them. A soft, feminine voice began reciting “15. 14. 13. 12. 11.”
As the countdown continued, Silverfox asked aloud “How do we open the door?”
It started over. “15. 14. 13.”
They tried to open the door, and again the countdown started over at 15.
Karl instructed Silverfox to ask the door questions every time the countdown got to 10 while they all tested ideas to open it. Koichi eventually came up with the idea of just standing still while the countdown expired, no questions, no actions.
They tried that and when the voice said zero, the door opened to the next chamber.
Ahead was a short hallway, then stairs up. At the top another short hallway opened up into a large, lava-lit cavern.
Stairs led up to the lip of a wide rock bowl which proved to have a bit of magma in it. A gear with a handle on it was on to the left of the stairs at the top. Silverfox immediately decided to turn it clockwise. A thin stream of lava poured from the empty air above the bowl, filling it a little more before stopping. Silverfox put forth the suggestion they should fill the bowl, everyone agreed. Eight cranks at the gear accomplished this, and the party saw magma trickling out the side of the bowl.
Clinging to the curved surface, the magma poured down the outside of the bowl to supports underneath, and a portion of the bottom fell out. Perched atop a bit of rock still sticking up from the lava below was a perfectly round black orb shot with red.
Karl cast Bigby’s hand to retrieve the Orb of UulSharaVas from its perch and James, son of Morris stowed it in his pack.
Levistus’ desire retrieved, they set forth to bring it back.
Mick On Everything 