A Deal Gone Wrong

The Hand of Destiny followed Mirt around the city as he walked in a roundabout way. Often, he would double back to lose a potential tail but with Milo’s raven the party was able to keep up. There was a moment when even the raven lost track of Mirt in a large crowd, this left the bird to wander trying to find its quarry again while the party teleported back to the bar hoping to spot Mirt themselves as it was close to where he had disappeared. They had arrived and managed to eat something before the raven let them know that it had picked up Mirt’s trail once more. 

Again, the party headed out to the last known location they were given. They followed the raven’s directions until they rounded a corner in the Castle Ward and found themselves face to face with a red skinned flying creature. It was a Cambion. A lower level minion demon. They usually followed stronger demons and were subservient to them. Behind the first one there were even more Cambions, a swarm of them. They were all emerging and flying around one specific home in the Ward. It looked like someone of means lived there but no humans were in sight. 

The party began fighting the Cambions off and they kept coming. They finally managed to put a dent in the numbers when there was a loud roar from within the house and a hole appeared in one of the walls. When the dust settled they could see a large red skinned hand emerging from the wall. Following that hand came the rest of the devil. This was no Cambion. It was a full on Pit Fiend and he looked ready to fight. 

Among the Cambions and also fighting, were some humanoids dressed in the tell tale clothing of rogues. It seemed the party had stumbled onto some sort of devilish deal and interrupted the transaction. The rogues all snapped out of their confusion and chaos erupted. Some of the rogues scattered, running away from the Pit Fiend while others faced off with the group trying to salvage the situation if they could. Everyone was exchanging blows in an all out brawl on some mansion’s lawn. Many of the rogues died quickly as the Cambions and Pit Fiend killed everything in their path without mercy. 

The party did manage to trap one of the rogues in the confusion of the battle. Kariss had cast Wall of Force to contain the thief for interrogation. Wall of Force contains many things but sound is not one of them. The rogue yelled out to his remaining companions, “The deal’s gone bad! Get the bloody hell out!” The leftover rogues dropped what they were doing and ran off in various directions too quickly for the party to catch. The party turned their attention to the Pit Fiend once their prisoner was secured in the Wall. Everyone was fighting, slinging spells and weapons to bring this giant devil down. 

During the fight Kariss got her first indication from Zenriel that she was somewhere nearby. It was the first time she had been able to get through and she wondered if it was because Zenriel was super close to her. She began to think that Zenriel was in the mansion they were fighting outside. Without thinking, Kariss ran towards the gaping hole in the side of the home and disappeared into the darkness. This left the rest of the group to fend off the Pit Fiend. The good thing was that there were more of them than the one demon. It was a hard fight but they managed to kill it off and watched as its body dissipated. Of Mirt there was no sign. He had been close by when the Cambion fight had begun but he had not been seen since. 

There were only scorch marks where the other dead Cambions had been too. There was no evidence of what had gone on except those marks and they could be from anything. The only thing they had was the one rogue they had managed to capture. Milo went over to the man who was trying to find a way out only to find that there was none. He banged on the see-through walls demanding to be set free. When that didn’t work he tried to bribe his way out with promised gold but the party knew better. Milo asked and asked but eventually, it became clear that this man was just a grunt. He had no knowledge of the operation and what was actually going on. He was just a messenger and courier. 

Milo was so frustrated that they were all hurt and incriminated in this violent ordeal without having gotten any information! It did not help that the man recognized Milo after a few moments and called him a coward for what he had done to free himself from Dezu. Milo’s gaze darkened and, before anyone could react, he summoned a giant slab of stone above the walls that held the rogue. It slowly slid down to crush the man. When he realized what was happening he pleaded for his life hoping to be saved. He was not. The slab kept coming down until it crushed the criminal under the weight and all that was left was a red splash of blood where a body had once been. 

As this was happening, Kariss walked out of the destroyed mansion holding a weak body to her side. It was Zenriel and she was in bad shape. She wasn’t injured per se, but it was clear she had not been fed well if at all. She had also been held in a cold room with shackles so her arms were raw from the restraints and she was weak. She was conscious but just barely, managing to hold on to Kariss with desperate need. The party briefly debated staying to clear the air with the city guard but with no witnesses and no evidence left they would only be hurting their own image in the city. 

The group left with Zenriel, counting themselves lucky that none of them had been seriously hurt in the battle. They had saved their friend and that was what mattered. Aleera stopped at the bar below for drinks and food which she brought up to the second floor where Kariss had laid Zenriel down on the soft bed. They all ate in silence, stopping every now and then to offer small pieces to Zen to get her strength back up. After a few bites though, she fell into a deep sleep knowing that she was safe and could relax. The group helped keep watch and guard Zenriel while she slept well for the first time since she had arrived in Waterdeep.