Session Report 68

General Summary

The Muskrats had successfully taken revenge for Tev by defeating his old allies and their devil underlings. Promptly they scavenged the bodies of Guntor, Afton, and Ford in search of the key necessary to reach High Wayfarer Mayathangi. Not one of the Seakings held their keys. The Muskrats had no choice but to continue their search for the keys. They continued their search meticulously by checking each room that they could. This led them to the High Wayfarer's room. They could hear individuals inside the room and Itzal made use of his familiar to inspect the room, discovering four salt devils hidden within. As soon as he relayed the information to rest of the Muskrats the situation changed. The salt devils could summon more of their own kind. While trying to devise a plan the salt devils charged out to confront the Muskrats and a battle quickly ensued. 
Itzal tried to recall some of the religious teachings he had received as part of his apprenticeship with Tritemeus to see if the subject of salt devils were ever raised. He remembered that the salt devils were known as servants to the Archdevil Mammon, that they were well known slavers, they often ran slave markets or salt mines to make use of slaves, and were known to poison oases in deserts or fresh water on islands in the ocean. Dastardly devils they were. Itzal attempted to relay this information to his fellow party members as the salt devils charged them. The battle quickly turned in favor of the salt devils as magical darkness blanketed the tight corridors the battle was taking place in. Within the darkness the Muskrats were struck by strong necrotic magic that seemed to sap the strength of their body. Without sight of the devils the Muskrats were at a significant disadvantage. Dami and Sloan were within the darkness attempting to battle the devils. Sloan could sense that Dami was wounded and extended a hand into the darkness to heal her. The moment that his divine magic flowed into her, a searing, uncontrollable yearning for destruction flowed back to him. Sloan did not know what had occurred but his divine sense told him to back away. And back away he did. He stumbled out of the darkness utterly perturbed by the dark emotions trapped within the darkness. 
Dami had been overcome by the Curse of Mephistopheles and was on a rampage to destroy everything around her. She lashed out at the devils and all the Muskrats could hear was the sounds of a ferocious battle. At moments the darkness would dissipate and the Muskrats could sneak in an attack or a spell. Sometimes striking Dami in the process. As the last devil fell, the Muskrats knew that one last enemy still stood: Dami. She turned her sights to the Muskrats and was prepared to kill each and every one of them. Itzal put himself between Dami and the others with a plan in mind. Drawing upon the healing magic of his fae spirit, Serenity, he bathed Dami in restoring magic to quell the effects of the curse. This curse, however, was particularly powerful and while the effects were suspended, Dami could still fall victim to the curse at any time. When questioned about what the curse was or what had happened Dami had little to nothing to say. A small bit of fear lingered in the back of the Muskrats mind over what they had seen. 
The Muskrats continued their search. They ran into no more enemies for a time but did discover many interesting tidbits of information. They learned that the High Wayfarer had established a contract with House Vassa on behalf of Mammon. House Vassa was serving some powerful fiend, likely a devil, but the High Wayfarer was unsure of who it was. The contract was to provide slaves to House Vassa and to target their enemies in raiding missions. Additionally, the Bastard's Court was to provide support to House Vassa as needed. This contract had allowed House Vassa to subdue House Rhoma and House Zuvolath due to their great fears of the High Wayfarer especially. The High Wayfarer's notes also revealed that she was soon to become an archdevil and that she would then be freed from the contract (under a convenient drafter's error) and would no longer work with any of the parties involved. Her ascent to an archdevil was conditioned on the ritual she was planning later that evening. The Muskrats also discovered information that the High Wayfarer resided deep below the castle in a partially submerged cavern and that she was especially powerful around water. During this search the Muskrats discovered the keys owned by Afton and Guntor. Only Crel's key remained. 
The search for Crel proved to be a difficult one. The Muskrats were unable to find him anywhere. Their search for him took them outside of the castle interior to the castle walls. There they heard the screams of people being killed in the distance and they could see large flames in the town below. The flames were so strong that the heavy rains were not putting them out. It was then then Tazmeth saw a strange sight. Three armored individuals flew overhead. They had angelic like wings but their eyes had turned completely black and black veins had bulged around their eyes and across their face. They looked both celestial and fiendish in nature. But the Muskrats did recognize that their armor was that worn by the Blades of Purity. It appeared that they had decided to assault Wave's End. The search for Crel finally ended when he was found to be sleep walking. When questioned about the key and the ritual, Crel revealed that he had been planning to skip town that night because he did not want to be caught up in the ritual. The key he wielded was his peak itself and that it required auditory sounds, or his "caw." to open. With his help the Muskrats gained entry to the lower levels and the Muskrats continued their hunt for the High Wayfarer. 
The tunnel that the Muskrats descended into was dark and a evil energy was swirling around within it. They pushed on and began to trek through the shredded apart remains of the Blades of Purity who had ventured into this location. Finally, they found a man still alive who had been attacked. He revealed that the High Wayfarer had attacked him, but had little to no information to share as he had not seen her before he was attacked. The Muskrats inquired about Zonraven. The man shared that Zonraven had ordered the attack, but he was elsewhere carrying out a mission. He also explained that the Blades of Purity served something called Salvation, an archangel who plunged themselves into the Nine Hells to destroy devils. With little else to gain the Muskrats pushed on. They reached the chamber where Dami had reached before to destroy hundreds of skeletons, but no devils in sight. They elected to continue. 
They reached a large water filled chamber with half of a shipwreck on the other side of the chamber. There stood High Wayfarer Mayathangi in her full devil form. A conversation between the two sides began. She shared that her dream was to own and control everything. Her greed was unsatiable and this was only the beginning. She tried to persuade the party to leave her to schemes. She was planning to sacrifice every pirate here and destroy the Bastard's Court. That fulfilled the Muskrats' mission she explained. They had none of it. Except for Tazmeth who had been swayed and began to engage in a dialogue with him. She saw his desires and attempted to take advantage of them. Tazmeth wanted to rule over Drasdorden. The High Wayfarer had no issue with that. It was but a single gold coin in her hoard of desired treasure. But before she could have any deal with him, two members of the Muskrats had to be killed. Dami for being a follower of Mephistopheles and Sloan for worshipping a divine god. Tazmeth stepped aside and told the High Wayfarer to do what she wished. Had Tazmeth betrayed the Muskrats?

Report Date

13 Nov 2022