Previous: Chapter 100: Final Goodbye
Othrys
The party stands in Othrys after Relic plane shifted them in, surrounded by putrid bogs and quicksand, which Penny is ankle deep in. Kal quickly grabs hold of her, as Thistlethorn casts a guidance on her, helping Penny escape from the quicksand and planting her feet firmly on solid ground. A quick look around reveals that the quicksand is surrounded by Ropers who thankfully haven’t noticed the party yet. Thistlethorn mentally points them out to the others, casting a pass without trace from her staff, as they all try to sneak away to safety.
After walking for a few minutes they feel fairly secure, with no immediate dangers nearby. In the distance they see prisoners being escorted around by large fiendish beings. Demodands. Luckily the party will most likely not have to deal with them too much. Kal takes out the scroll of momentary omniscience, and then asks the party who should read it. The party thinks that she should do it, considering that she’s the hardest one to kill at this point, thanks to her shard.
Kal agrees, and opens the scroll up, as Thistlethorn sits down to start casting the wind walk spell. As she does, she notices a figure looming in the distance, getting closer. An elderly man, skinny with ragged clothes, wearing a simple wooden mask stands behind a tree, observing the party. She mentally points the figure out to the others, who stand guard, prepared for an ambush that never comes. Relic recognizes this as a petitioner, a soul that was sent to Carceri for the betrayals they committed during their life.
Kal reads the scroll, and has a vision of being dragged through the layers of Carceri. Through dark and deep caverns, into a jungle with acidic rain and razor sharp vines, across a barren cold desert with a raging sandstorm, through mountaintops pelted with harsh winds, beneath a cold and stinging ocean, until eventually moving across a vast plane of ice, until she reaches a golden pedestal embedded in it. The pedestal has a slot that would fit the key, and far below her, entombed in the ice, a figure is lying, waiting. Just as she emerges from the vision, a visage of Vuthul lunges at her, before disappearing.
Kal tells the others what she saw, and knows the right path. When Thistlethorn’s spell finishes casting, they take to the skies, flying over Othrys, as the lone masked figure comes running after them, yelling “take me with you,” but the party ignores him, having more important things to do. Namely finding a god.
After a few hours of flying, looking over the landscape of Othrys, seeing the camps filled with petitioners being tortured, devils and demons fighting, as well as the river Styx cutting through the landscape. Kal eventually gets the sensation that their destination is close, and begins to take them down. They are led to a large hole in the ground, with a small village next to it. The river Styx flows into the hole, and Kal realizes that they have to go down into the hole to get to the next layer.
Relic is about to enter the hole before he realizes that he cannot easily avoid the flowing river that sprays stygian waters all over the opening. They decide to regroup next to a boulder, away from any prying eyes, as they come out of cloud form. Kal says that their path takes them through the opening, but the waters are a hazard. After a short deliberation, Kal decides to use control water to redirect the flow, allowing them to pass through safely. After activating the spell, they return to cloud form, Kal redirects the water away from the hole, in a way that doesn’t flood the little village, and then they fly down into the depths.
At the bottom of the hole there is a large cavern, filled to the brim with stygian water. Kal senses their path leads them down into the waters, through another tunnel. They discuss briefly mentally about what to do, until Kal realizes that she still can use control water to manipulate the flow here. She parts the water, creating an opening, but unfortunately disturbs a few stygian water elementals that were lingering in the waters. The party quickly tries to fly past, but the water elementals notice their presence, trying to strike at them, but fortunately they miss, allowing the party to continue. Kal lets the water flow back, creating a whirlpool, hindering the elementals from following, as they head further down into the depths.
Cathrys
The party eventually reaches the bottom of the cave system, finding an opening in the ground that leads into nothing, just a black void. Kal feels that this is the correct path, so the party takes the plunge, realizing that the black void was simply the sky, as they emerge from the top of a mountain on the next layer, Cathrys. As far as the eye can see there is jungle, with scattered strongholds and settlements, sporadic showers of acidic rain, and a few mountains. Kal has a sense of the path ahead, and with a few hours left of the wind walk, they decide to press on, hoping to find a safe place to camp for the night.
After a couple of hours, the party starts searching for a suitable location, with Penny eventually finding a massive circular rock, which extends past the cloudless acid rain that scours the layer. She returns to the others, who follow her to the rock. Beneath it lies a camp filled with demodands, but they see there’s no easy way up, so hopefully they won’t be disturbed. As they emerge from cloud shapes when the spell expires, Penny summons a diamond, giving it to Relic, who casts a mighty fortress that emerges from the ground.
Safely inside the fortress, the party spends the rest of the day relaxing, doing their best to distract themselves from their current situation. They wonder what makes people do bad stuff when they know they can end up in such an abhorrent place as Carceri, but Kal knows that people who genuinely think they’re doing the right thing are the ones that find themselves here in the afterlife. People always has a chance to redeem themselves, and if they don’t, they’re destined for one of the layers of Carceri.
Thistlethorn sits down in a corner, whittling away at a piece of wood, putting Rocky on a small chair next to her, speaking to it, but as always, she never gets a response. She then suddenly asks Relic if he can cast telepathic bond on them, including Rocky in the casting. Relic is willing to try, and amazingly, it seems to work. Rocky is quite shy however, but he answers Thistlethorn inside her head. He tells her that he’s more fond of backflips rather than frontflips because it looks cooler, he likes the smell of strawberries, and spends his time watching the group when they don’t realize he’s there. He also hates ants, and doesn’t want to be polished. In the end, Thistlethorn draws a set of eyes on Rocky’s “face”, before joining the rest of the party for a heroes’ feast.
When Penny summons the bowl needed for the casting of the feast, and is distraught at finding it rusted, something that should be impossible since gold doesn’t rust. Relic figures it’s an effect on the plane they’re on, but assures her it still has the same value and use. When Kal casts the spell to summon the feast, one of the dishes is spoiled, but they still get full use of the casting. Before going to bed, Relic and Penny both use their wish to cast mind blank on themselves, with Penny also casting Protection from Evil and Good on Thistlethorn, something Kal does on herself.
The next morning, they all feel the dread emanating from the plane, causing Penny to become exhausted. Thistlethorn asks her to summon some diamond dust, then uses it to cure her with a greater restoration, making Penny feel much better. They then leave the safety of the fortress, using wind walk to move speedily towards their destination, Kal in front.
After around 5 hours of travel, Kal notices yet again that the path leads them down to the ground. The problem this time is that there is a hole in the middle of a large settlement of demodands and petitioners, in an old abandoned ruin. The party considers just flying straight for the hole, but sees a group of flying creatures move across the ruins, prompting all the demodands to attack them, clearly showing the party that they have some sort of ward in place.
Penny suggests just landing there, talking to them, convincing them to let them pass. The others are not super happy with the idea, but go along with it. They put Penny in front, with all of them showing that they mean no harm, as they move closer to the ruins. In the distance, Thistlethorn notices that there is a torrent of acid rain approaching, but it’s still a few minutes away.
As they approach, the demodands gather around them, stopping their advance. One of the larger ones moves to the front, demanding to know why the party feels the need to approach so brazenly. Penny tells the fiend that they are merely passing through, and would like to enter the cave in the center of their quaint little camp. The demodand wants to know their business in Carceri if they’re not petitioners or exiles, to which they reply they are here to kill a god. That seems to set off the demodand, who seems to very much approve of their task, but he cannot just let them pass for nothing, as it would make him look bad for the prisoners. He says this as he looks over at one of his underlings flaying the skin off a drow.
They try to bargain with him, and in the end agree to part with the targe of the blooded, the wand of smiles, and three healing potions, that the demodands can use to extend their fun. The party is allowed to pass, but the demodands moves closer and closer to them, trying to intimidate the party. Luckily, the party is immune to fear, so they just walk over to the stairs leading down to the depths, changing back into cloud form to speed up the journey.
Minethys
When they reach the bottom of the staircase they find a large trap door in the floor. There are two sets of wheels on either side, and with a little effort, Kal and Relic manage to turn the wheel that has rusted shut, and together they all manage to open the path down. They immediately hear the sound of strong winds, and see a torrent of sand passing by. The party jumps down, emerging on the other side in a massive sandstorm that envelops the entire layer of Minethys.
Thistlethorn spots a large rock to the side, and leads the others to it. The freezing sand shears away part of their skin, but they manage to get to cover before they take too much damage. They sit in the shadow of the boulder, discussing their option, before Kal suddenly realizes that Udall has granted her a spell that might just be what they need.
To prepare, Kal casts divination to ask Udall how far the next entrance is, and is told that it would take about 4 hours if they flew as the crow flies, and there wasn’t a sandstorm there. Kal knows just about where they are headed, so gathers the party around her, as they all turn into a bolt of lightning, flying through the sandstorm, and then land with another flash in front of a large natural opening in a valley. They waste no time, running for safety, and then turn back into cloud form, continuing downwards to the next layer.
Colothys
The journey to the next layer of Colothys is even shorter, and they soon emerge on a mountain top, surrounded by a dim landscape filled with other sharp mountains and deep valleys. No flat ground for as long as the eyes can see, and a heavy wind that threatens to blow them all away if they aren’t careful. Thistlethorn suggests moving along the mountain sides bit by bit, so as to not be lost to the wind, but it would probably be very painful with the wind slamming them into the mountains themselves.
Relic is not very confident with their current plan, so Kal casts another divination in order to learn about their next target. Udall gives her a general description of the next entrance, enough to allow Relic to attempt to teleport them directly there, but he’s not very confident about their chances. They decide to go for it, come what may. They gather around Relic, as he uses the staff to teleport them away towards their destination.
Amazingly, Relic’s teleport is right on target, and they emerge in a large valley shielded from the winds. The mountains above them curve inwards, clearly distorted by the winds blowing from both sides, meeting in the middle. On the ground, a natural looking octagonal well leads down to the next layer. Knowing that the next layer is a massive oceanic layer with little to no safe places to rest, Relic suggests that they summon the mighty fortress here, and then continue in the morning. The others agree that this is a good idea, and so Penny summons another diamond, which Relic uses to raise their safe place for the night.
Safely inside, away from the winds, the party discusses what to do when they get to the next layer. Relic suggests that they should just journey straight towards where the next opening can be found, and then swim or make their way straight down into the ocean, using as little time as possible on the layer. The others agree, with Penny suggesting to summon a hollow rock that can sink to the bottom with them inside it. The party thinks this is a great idea, and goes to sleep, confident about their plan for reaching the final layer, Agathys.
Porphatys
The next morning, Penny once again succumbs to the despair of the layer, waking up with a sense of dread, which Thistlethorn once again cures for her. As they emerge, Thistlethorn uses wind walk once again, and they all fly down the natural well to the next layer, Porphatys.
They emerge on a small rocky formation on a tiny island, surrounded by a dark and vast ocean. In the distance they see a small sandbank filled with people trying to avoid the water. Realizing that they yet again have no way of helping these people, and the fact that most of them don’t deserve help, they decide to move on, following Kal towards the opening.
On the way there, they spot a single figure on a sandbank, surrounded by bodies lying in the water. As they get closer they see that the figure is a dragonborn. A white dragonborn, with ruined armor. Kal takes a spin around the figure, recognizing Thaddeus Ildrex, doomed to linger in Carceri for all time as penance for his betrayal of his own humanity. The others can’t see, as they’re all in cloud form, but Kal smiles to herself, before continuing onwards.
They eventually reach the point where Kal stops them from advancing, indicating that their target is directly below them, deep in the ocean. Prepared, Relic flies up a bit, then emerges from cloud form, and starts to fall. He casts feather fall, then wall of force above the water to make a sort of floor where the others can join him to prepare for the dive.
As they emerge from the cloud form, Penny thinks about what she wants to summon, getting advice from Relic about the shape of the stone. They come up with an aerodynamic design, with a pointy bottom, and a hollow flat top. Since the stone is completely hollow, but with no opening, Penny uses a passwall from her shard to allow everyone to enter. Inside they find it looking much like a geode, with crystals lining the walls, and making up four chairs surrounding a table, with handholds on the side.
The party steps in, positioning themselves in the chairs, as Penny drops the passwall. Relic then asks if everyone is ready, then drops the wall of force, dropping the rock with the party inside into the cold, acidic ocean depths.
The rock quickly rights itself, and the party feels lighter as they are dropping at a fast rate thanks to the shape. To make the time pass, Kal and Penny both play dice, with Penny cheating a bit, but after Kal and Thistlethorn both out her, she tries to play fair, losing every play. Relic spends the time writing a log about their journey after attuning to the ring of warmth, while Thistlethorn makes a holder for Rocky to keep on her belt.
After about one and a half hour, the journey suddenly stops as they feel a strong thud from hitting the bottom, and the rock falling over. Penny uses animating performance to allow the rock to move with them inside it, telling it to find an opening and enter it. They soon hear scraping from ice against the sides, indicating that the rock has found the right one, but after a few meters they stop, stuck in place.
Kal casts a control water spell, as Penny summons diving goggles for each of them. They fall to the ground when the rock disappears, as Kal keeps the water at bay, finding themselves in a tight corridor made entirely of ice. Looking back at where they came from, they see that the ice stretches far out over the ocean floor. They don’t want to linger for too long, considering the control water spell doesn’t last forever, turning themselves into cloud shapes, and then hurrying down the ice-cave.
Agathys
The party eventually emerges from the cavern, completely dry, having avoided the acidic and cold ocean altogether. Now however, they sense the freezing cold on their cloudy forms, so they quickly emerge from cloud shape in order to take out the thermal cubes, keeping themselves warm.
Kal sits down to ask Udall once more how far away Vuthul’s prison lies, and is told that it is a couple of hours away. They only have an hour left or so of cloud form, so it won’t bring them all the way, but just as she gets up, they all see a large figure approaching at breakneck speed. A planetar approaches, landing in front of them, telling them that this place is forbidden, and that they need to leave at once. Penny tells them that they are here to kill the Forgotten One. The planetar looks surprised, then speaks with a booming voice.
“I have watched the beast for far too long. I yearn to return home.”
The planetar decides to help them out, flying up and behind them, grabbing hold of them, then takes off towards their destination.
After a relatively short while, with freezing winds punishing them, but not as much as it would have if they didn’t have their thermal cubes, the planetar lands. Ahead of them, they see a single golden pedestal embedded in the ice. Penny summons another diamond, giving it to Relic, as the party thinks it would be a good idea to prepare one last time before facing the god, asking him to make a mighty fortress for the night.
As he summons it, Kal turns to the planetar, asking for their aid in the fight, but the planetar tells her that they are not permitted to intervene. He does however promise to bear witness. Kal thanks the planetar for this, and walks over to join the others, who want to check out the pedestal.
When the party gets close, they immediately see that the pedestal is made of the same material as The Key, purified gold, platinum and silver. They look down into the ice and can just barely make out the massive figure of the god trapped beneath them. Suddenly they hear a voice in their head, a voice Penny hasn’t heard in many months.
“So, you have finally come. Thank you for holding up your end of the bargain Penny, I look forward to seeing you in person, at last…”
Vuthul tries to goad the party, but the party tries to tease him back. Vuthul warns them that if they don’t release him, his child will do so soon enough. The party doubts it, calling Nezznar a coward, but Vuthul laughs at their attempt at angering him, repeating his earlier remark that he looks forward to meeting them in person. The party retreats from the pedestal, returning to their castle, but is stopped by the planetar, who tells them that he has a boon from Adea. They hold their hand out, helping the party reach their maximum potential. The party thanks them, and then heads into the fortress for one last sleep.
Next: Chapter 102: Vuthul