10th Session- The Jord Escape

General Summary

25th of Melora's Gift, 1436

Any Landing You Can Walk From...

Having resumed their travel in the airship overnight and now reaching the northern foothills of the mountains, the party realized they were growing ever nearer to their destination. Even with thick fog all around, the hope of escape was gaining traction and the party mulled over their next course of action. Reviewing the map, Niks explained to them all that there were multiple points of entry to the caverns beneath the mountain. There was a lot of hesitation around landing again and facing other unknowns, so the decision was made that they would stay airborne for as long as possible. There was a potential hindrance to this plan. It was noticed that they had lost some altitude due to condensation cooling the balloon and freezing their sails, Scarlet used her powers to warm both. Cold water began dripping on them from overhead, but if their course held true they might be able to reach the Broken Citadel itself and make contact with Niks' people. Maybe they could barter their passage through Kobold territory by offering up their vessel.
Traveling on, the party's talks were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an explosion ahead and below. Rising columns of smoke began to rise above the fog banks as well. Lapis nervously dismissed the turbulence, musing that it was just activity of the volcano, but Niks raced to the bow of the airship exclaiming that the noise was not from a natural cause. He further demanded that everyone listen to the additional ruckus that was continuing. Sure enough, A few of them began to make out the sounds of combat and monstrous roars. Niks encouraged the party to land as the sound on one side of the fight sounded like the familiar, diminutive and numerous cries of other Kobolds.
Not knowing how to descend through the fog without hitting something, Scarlet sent Cassima to scout and guide the party toward the ground. Unfortunately, the action seemed to come just a little too late as suddenly the upper bows of trees appeared out of the fog, just barely missed by Phuc Her's last minute course corrections. More trees sailed past along with the occasional outcrop of rock, adding to the growing panic they were all feeling. Scarlet went into the eyes of Cassima as the owl weaved through the trees, desperately calling back directions to the Half-Elf. Suddenly an outcrop of rocks appeared before them and Phuc Her was hopeless to attempt overcoming it with the airship descending at such speed. As the ship scraped over the rocks and jarred to the side, causing the balloon to catch in the branches of the trees and tear in multiple places.

Unexpected Rendezvous

Having lost also all remaining lift that had been supporting them, the ship careened down the jagged slope of rock. The only saving grace of the situation was that they still managed to conveniently skid to a halt not far from the ongoing battle. Crashed to the ground, the party immediately disembarked from the airship and took combat ready poses while the mountain trolls had divided attention. As the trolls wavered between enemies now on both sides, a few of the kobolds threw their spears to almost no effect. The party pressed forward, throwing magical attacks in an attempt to split the trolls while dodging boulders hurled in their direction. The mountain trolls were hardy though, and barely felt the attacks directed at them. Worse yet, one of the Kobold warriors in the foray was struck down when he broke awake from his compatriots.
Lapis realized that continuing the fight in this way only risked more injury and deaths. The Kobolds were their ticket into the Underdark and an impression had to be made quickly if they were to gain the small reptiles' trust. Thinking to the fact that at least one dragon was meant to be in the area, she quickly cast a spell. Suddenly, within the billowing fog, the roar of a dragon echoed all around them. The mountain trolls immediately froze and another roar in the air overhead had them fleeing in a chaotic rout. After a moment of unease among everyone Lapis reveled the sound to be fake and began gesturing for the Kobolds to approach, signalling that they meant no harm.
While everyone chuckled about the clever ploy and the blessed stupidity of trolls, one of the Kobolds clad in a patchwork robe approached and asked why they had intervened. The apparent leader, Searcher Surko, as he had called himself, was the leader of of a party that scavenged supplies from the surface. Quickly, it was explained that they had given their aide in the hope that the gesture could be returned by gaining access to the tunnels leading into the Underdark under Kobold control. The mood immediately took a turn. As it happened, the Kobolds had only just emerged from tunnels that would have led directly to Morhid's Roost. The trolls had launched their attack only moments after the searcher party had stepped into the open, cutting them off by collapsing the cave mouth. There was no way to move the smoking rocks aside.
With little recourse, as the balloon was now a wreck catching fire, Surko explained that the only way to get into the Kobold territory now was to proceed to the Broken Citadel where a garrison of his people protected the largest entrance. From there, he would attempt to put in a good word for them on the condition that they never reveal how they escaped as it could lead to a war with the prisoners of the island and potentially even the Dwarves of the mainland. The party eagerly agreed to the condition as exposing the passage would also mean revealing that they were escaped convicts. They stated that they were only interested in a one-time arrangement and his people would very likely never see them again.

The Ascent and the Tower of Tension

Joining the Kobolds, the party followed as Searcher Surko led the way up the mountain. After the encounter with the trolls, everyone kept their guard up, but there was no sign of any pursuit. As evening began to fall, Scarlet took the opportunity to summon her small wizard tower so that everyone would be warm and far more protected than trying to make camp on the mountainside. The three stories of the tower provided ample room for everyone to stay comfortably. The Kobolds piled themselves up on one of the couches of the lounge floor near Phuc Her as he studied the contents of his book.
Lapis decided that she and Udoud would avail themselves to the pair of hot baths ready on the first floor. Scarlet wondered why they would be going down at the same time and Lapis decided that she would make yet another attempt to bring the younger Genasi into the ways of love and eroticism. Despite Sasimay being dubious over the attempted corruption of her little sister, she watched on as Scarlet was quizzed about love in a more analytical fashion rather than emotionally. Finally, Scarlet was offered the copy of The Emerald Veil erotic novel to look over. Thinking about Scarlet's time in the Celestian Faith as a student and scribe probably meant that she would jump at a project and Lapis decided to give her one. Lapis told Scarlet to look over the novel and take some time to write a thesis in response to it in the hopes that maybe she would gain more understanding as a byproduct.
The pair of lovers finally pulled away and went down to the first floor. Compliant as always to her desires, Udoud arranged himself in the second tub beside her. However, this continued subservience had begun to weigh on Lapis. She decided to level with him and see where things really stood. As she had suspected, Udoud largely followed her whims because she had saved him and because within his culture it was the norm for females to be in control. Lapis looked at him in a new light with this revelation and told the Gnoll that she didn't want him to obey like some sort of slave if he wasn't comfortable. A more importantly, she found him attractive and hoped he looked on her in the same way. She wanted a mutual partnership. Dare she say it, a full relationship, with him. Asking him if he was interested in such a thing, Udoud took a moment to consider before rising out of his tub and joining Lapis in hers, saying that he loved her too.
On the second floor within the lounge, everyone began to hear the loud consummation of this declaration of love. Phuc Her and Sasimay were both put off by this and Scarlet was mercifully ignorant of the goings on as she was within her observatory bedroom. After a while it seemed apparent that Udoud was perhaps a boundless fount of stamina and perhaps they would be at it for an extended time. Phuc Her was in no mood to deal with "the cat's" shenanigans and that left Sasimay to break it up if anyone on the second floor was to get any sleep. Moving down the ladder to the first floor she knocked on the door to no success, as her pounding on the door seemed to be overtaken by the splashing and moaning from the other side. Sasimay decided that she would shield her eyes from the horrors of a Tabaxi and Gnoll in flagrante delicto all over each other. She took a spare towel and wrapped her eyes.
Stepping blindly into the room to get a word in over the noise, it should be no surprise that the fire Genasi lost her footing on one of the many puddles covering the tiled floor. She slid further inside, finally pulling the pair away from their love-making as her feet went out from under her. The towel started to slip but she was in the midst of an adrenaline rush, then, to be out of the situation. She scrambled up to leave only to slip again, only this time her arms went into the tub... right in the vicinity of Udoud's genitalia. The towel now fully dislodged, the Genasi found herself locked between the gazes of a Gnoll howling in pain and an angry Tabaxi telling her to "get her hands off my man." Emotions wore high as Sasimay finally managed to extricate herself from the room.
Going back to the lounge, she looked like a wreck. Explaining why she looked so haggard, the Kobolds in their midst were at a loss as to why the pair were mating at all when Lapis had not seemed to be in her fertile period. Phuc Her was lucky to avoid having to explain to them what the particulars meant, but when it came to what Sasimay told him he couldn't say he was surprised by it or how trying to put at least a temporary stop to it had gone. He excused himself to do quiet busy work as he would not be sleeping, as per usual.

Devil in the Details

Recovering from her visual trauma, Sasimay sat up alone for a while as everyone else gradually bedded down. With questions building up in her head, she reached out to Derzeth. She questioned him about the nature of their bond through the sword and he replied that, simply, she was a means to an end, but much more than that in practice. Her connection to him gave him eyes into the material plane, as did the eyes of other mortals bound with similar contracts or subjects that willing offered themselves up to him as others did to other devils. While he wouldn't disclose how many others were bound in service to him, he clarified again that he was by no means omniscient.
There are extraplanar barriers in place that largely kept his kind out of the mortal realm just as it did deities of "good" natures. As he had brought up other gods, he was also quick to point out that deities were just as likely to ignore their faithful as help them. Not so with him. As Sasimay well knew, they had a constant connection and oaths based in the Pact Primeval to assure both of them kept to their arrangement. It was really quite charitable, so he claimed: he gave her the power of his blade and only asked for souls in return. If she was going to kill people anyway, at least they could serve a last purpose.
That brought Sasimay to her next question: why were souls such a commodity in the Nine Hells? Derzeth's answer was, once again, simple: souls were a power source. They fueled almost everything within the Hells. Material wealth certainly existed even on his plane and could be used to barter just as Sasimay was accustomed to, but souls were a currency of superior caliber. The energy of a soul was condensed into a token that could fuel machines and vehicles beyond her reckoning. By amassing more, Derzeth claimed that he would eventually become ascendant within the hierarchy of the Nine Hells. He quashed her burgeoning inquiries about how this was evil too. He explained that as all beings had needs and justifications for their actions, it was better to view everything from an objective stance rather than a moral one. For example, people could say what she did was evil for her recent actions, but she was protecting her sister. And now she was merely escaping a wrongful imprisonment. Only those too quick to judge would be against such things. If others sought to hurt them in their ignorance she was well within her rights to fight back.
Once all was said and done, Sasimay found herself thanking Derzeth and inwardly found herself in a quandary at finding that she actually agreed with most of what a devil had said. She decided to try and shake that feeling by going up to Scarlet's observatory bedroom to spend time with her sister. Much to her surprise, the younger Swayson was busily pouring over the erotic novel and referencing other books scattered across her desk while furiously writing. Scarlet barely paused to acknowledge her presence, leaving Sasimay to sprawl on Scarlet's bed as she watched her sister work until she passed out.

Rewards Granted

Party: The party forged an alliance with a Kobold searcher party to gain entry to the Underdark through the city of Morhid's Roost.
Lapis: A confession of love from Udoud.
Phuc Her: N/A
Sasimay Swayson: Visual trauma and a devil's insight.
Scarlet Swayson: Party's copy of The Emerald Veil for her research project on the nature of love from Lapis.

Missions/Quests Completed

Days survived in Jord: 8

Character(s) interacted with

Searcher Surko: The leader of a Kobold Searcher party that was meant to gather supplies for the city of Morhid's Roost. He agreed to a temporary alliance to get the party to his people in exchange for mutual defense.

Report Date

01 Nov 2020