The chill was beginning to set in again. With the celestial being now gone, the group was left in a cold and dark cavern. The only source of light was coming from the entrance only a few feet away. The room was deadly silent, save for the wails from the wind beyond the cavern. Most of the group were still digesting the new information they had just been given. That is until the silence was broken once more.
Taking his moment of opportunity, Caravaggio landed a well placed blow to the back of Tidal's head leaving him a little stunned. Swiftly maneuvering himself towards the entrance, he placed himself between the cave entrance and the group. Taking a few more steps to the entrance, Caravaggio was met with the deepest of freezes. The air beyond the cavern was so cold his breath was freezing almost on contact and frozen droplets feel from the air. Looking around, he could see now that the cave entrance was merely an opening roughly some 200ft down from the surface. There were no ledges or trails from where he stood and it was a straight drop down. Caravaggio couldn't see the bottom of the chasm. The cliff face opposite was to far to reach.
Flewid turned towards Dido and Rachel.
"So what do we do now?" Inquired Flewid.
"Well, I guess we need to find a way out of this place and find this Syllucraff individual so we can start making our way to the abyss." Dido replied.
Tidal shook his head and snorted. He was not pleased about the sucker punch he had just gotten. Letting out a loud cry, he began to charge at Caravaggio.
"STAND DOWN!" yelled Rachel as Tidal took the first few steps of his charge but did not slow.
Acting quickly, Flewid casts an entangle spell. With lightning fast speed, various vines burst from the ground and ensnared Tidal, immediately stopping his advance.
Rachel walked over to where Tidal was now trapped and put herself between him and Caravaggio. Looking at both of them she made a stern face and held up her hands to each and spoke to them;
"We have more important things to do than for you two to keep sparring with each other. Now I demand that you cease this none sense and begin to work with us to achieve The Choirs' goal."
Caravaggio turned around and took in the sight of what was unfolding behind him. He slowly walked over to Rachel and stopped. A tense moment passed as he stared Tidal in the eye. Then, in a swift motion, Caravaggio swung out and striked Tidal again. Tidal's rage grew and he was furiously trying to escape the vines that continued to bound him to his spot.
Dido exhaled a sigh and walked over to stand by Rachel. She addressed both combatants as she drew her sword partially out of it scabbard;
"You will both stand down now, or we will strike you both down and carry out our mission without either of you. As the halfling said, we don't have time for your tomfoolery."
Caravaggio narrowed his eyes, first keeping his stare locked with Tidal, then moving his gaze to the others in the room. He finally rested his gaze on Dido and the half drawn sword. With a half nod, Caravaggio walked away from the others to go back and stand by the entrance of the cavern. Dido turned her gaze to Tidal.
"And you?" She inquired with a stern tone.
Tidal began to slowly stop struggling against the vines. Once he stopped, and with a snort and a slow nod, he indicated he would stop.
"Good. I think both of you will have the chance to prove your battle prowess out there - " Dido gestured past the cave opening. " - but for now, we must work together to get out from here and make our way to the base of Gelunith."
She nodded over to Flewid who released the spell. The vines retracted into the ground and Tidal was left to stand on his own where he had been stopped.
"You are worthy foe!" Tidal spoke in a loud voice towards Caravaggio. "When our task is complete, I shall battle and defeat you then!"
Caravaggio snorted and spoke back over his shoulder in a sinister tone;
"Heh, I doubt very much your odds of victory in that confrontation."
Feeling the matter resolved for now. Dido began to speak to the group;
"We should see what resources we can gather from here and then devise our escape."
As they all glanced around, there was little to be seen in this sparse cave. It was set up as a simple laboratory. There were a few work benches around the walls and not much else. There was little in the way of equipment as well. Some empty wooden stands for repositories were about all that could be seen. If this place had been well stocked at one point, anything of value had certainly been taken by now.
One oddity did stand out to the group however. Tucked in a corner at the back of the room was the curled up little body Caravaggio had checked out when they woke up. Rachel, Dido, Caravaggio and Flewid made their way over to examine it. As they drew closer, they could tell that it was the body of a gnome. Frost lined it's fur coat and it looked like a partially mummified corpse. There was also the small satchel containing a few items.
Caravaggio pulled the satchel back off the body and quickly rifled through it again. The same few scrolls and jar are still inside. He tries to read the scrolls, but they don't make any sense to him. With a dismissive snort, he slammed the satchel against Flewid's chest and walked away. Flewid tried to catch his breath as it had been knocked out of him by the force of Caravaggio "handing" him the bag.
Dido pulled the journal out from the satchel and began to take a moment to skim it's pages. Rachel performed a little prayer for the Gnome and Flewid then tried to see if the fur coat might have some use. Seeing that it was too small, he gave it to Rachel which was just long enough to be a cap for here.
Shortly after Rachel completed her prayer for the departed, she tied the fur coat to her armor and turned to asked Dido if the journal contained anything of value.
"Yes. It seems that this journal belongs to our gnomish friend here. A McClintock Hupperdink, a former scribe for a group called the Orders Arcane." replied Dido.
"Oh, I've heard of them!" chimed in Flewid. "Some group of magic scholars based in Gnomandy."
"Well, it looks like Mr. Hupperdink here was not impressed that they denied his quest to come to Baator to study it. Let me read you this:
I write today's entry as a free gnome. I am no longer bound by the limited cognitive abilities of the Orders Arcane.
Today marks the beginning of my my journey. I, McClintock Hupperdink, FORMER High Scribe of the Orders Arcane, begin a new journey: I will map out and explore each of the Nine Hells of Baator.
My goal: ABSORB! There is so much untapped knowledge and potential and ARCANE POWER down there. These short-sighted old fools in their ironed vestments can't fathom the power we can learn. Think of the experiments of Mephistopheles! The mints of Minauros!
My journey will last exactly one year. RESEARCH EVERYTHING. WRITE IT ALL.
On my return. Publication! DISCOURSE!
Now. To find a portal...
M. "
Dido flipped a few more pages in the journal and read another entry.
"Cania - The Eighth Layer
After an hour in Cania, I have utterly forgotten what it was like to be warm. This is an icy hellscape, whose ice storms I have seen tear flesh from bone. The icy wastes and the constant grey skies are occasionally cut by flashes of bright light and intense flames. I have learned that the majority of these stem from Mephistopheles’ experimentation.
Mephistopheles’ fiendish claws, bright crimson red skin, large bat-like wings and impressive, curling ram horns all put his hellish heritage on proud display. He is a being of razor-sharp instinct, careful suspicion and prodigious brilliance, and a cunning genius with an unparalleled understanding of Hell’s political dangers. The Lord of the Eighth seems keen on expanding the boundaries of arcane possibility. Even I’m not sure what that means.
Within the warmth of the Citadel, I have encountered Pit Fiends and Cornugon, although by far the most numerous are the Gelugon. In my limited time in the frozen wastes, I saw only Gelugon, searching for any remnants of Mephistopheles’ experimentation that might provide them the power or knowledge they need to be promoted. I fear the screaming howls of the snowstorms in this Hell also hide something much more sinister.
The Citadel of Mephistar. The Citadel is the main city in Cania and rests atop Nargus, the largest glacier in this Hell. I didn’t intend to visit the Citadel. I don’t know if my body was pulled by the warmth emanating from it, of if there something more nefarious called me here. The Citadel is home to The Court of Mephistopheles. It, too, is carved from Nargus, deep under the ice like the grandest cities of the dwarves. Nargus also houses the School of Hellfire, the academy where Mephistopheles trains his wizards to create the powerful Hellfire Engines that roam Avernus. Some of the mountains here are curious as well. Gelunith and Foristhimith, for example, have etymological roots in Celestial. Curious."
The cold of Cania was starting to set in on the group and they all were beginning to freeze and shiver. Rachel was struck by an idea and motioned everyone to gather around her.
"I'm going to cast a magical hut. It should give us a chance to warm up while we plan our next steps."
Rachel began to recite the incantation and enact the ritual while the others stood near by. Only Caravaggio was not standing with the group, choosing instead to stand by the entrance of the cave once more looking out at the sheer wall of ice that was opposite them. The others gave him his space as they did not want to provoke any more fighting. None of them really had any kind of bond with each other having only been brought into this half life about only an hour ago.
As Rachel's ritual came to an end, a magical force expanded from the center point of her motions and enveloped the group. It formed a cube like shape and the environment inside felt comfortable. Everyone took a seat on the ground and began to warm up a little.
Tidal pulled a potion from a pouch tied to his belt and popped the cork. He then began to guzzle it's contents as the red liquid sloshed around the vial and down into his mouth. Flewid flipped open the satchel that Caravaggio had slammed against him and pulled out the scrolls. Thumbing through them, he quickly identified them as; a Scroll of Disguise, Invisibility, and Warding Bond.
Rachel looked over at Dido.
"So how do you think we'll get out of here?" Rachel asked.
"We'll likely have to climb the the ice wall outside this cave. It could take awhile." replied Dido.
Flewid held up the scrolls to the group in the hut.
"None of these will be of use climbing." He said waving them towards Dido. "A scroll of Disguise, Invisibility and Warding Bond. They might have more use once we get to this Gelunith mountain."
"Maybe there are some magical items around that we can't see?" mused Tidal.
"Yea? And how are we going to know if that's true?" Dido said narrowing here eyes as she stared back at him.
"I have an ability to sense near by magical things. I'll check for you."
Tidal closed his eyes and began to hum, mostly to himself. Inside his mind, he saw a colorless version of their current environment. As he moved is minds eye around, he could see the glowing forms of magical items and spells. The hut they were in glowed a bright golden color. Each member of the group had magical items on their person and the scrolls in Flewid's hand glowed. Opening his eyes, he looked back over to Dido and speaks;
"I don't see anything that's not already with someone. But I bet that magical rope the Bugbear is holding might be useful."
Hearing Tidal speak from within the hut, Caravaggio looked down at the rope he had tied to himself. He begins to look it over to see if he can somehow learn what makes it magical and what it does.
"It occurs to me," said Flewid speaking up," That we have not introduced ourselves to each other. If we are going to work together to complete this quest, we should at least know each other's names. I'll start with myself. You can call me Flewid. I'm, well I was, an adventurer seeking a lost Oasis. Not sure exactly how I died. Last thing a remember was a whoosh of water."
"You can call me Tidal." Tidal says with a snort. "I am the champion of the Clan Ni'ol'redne't. Second to Clan chief Staazer Kefalotyri. I feel in glorious battle defending our realm."
"Well I'm Rachel, cleric of Selune." Rachel continued raising her hand, "I was captured and burned at the stake by a group of cultists while investigating the disappearance of Selune."
Dido looked at the others then joined in. "You may call me Dido. I am the Avatar of Vengeance for Shevarash and I feel in battle."
"Then it was a good death!" interjected Tidal. "there is no better way to die than with a weapon in your hand and you're feet on the ground."
The others did not share Tidal's enthusiasm.
"What about you Bugbear? Did you die in honorable combat?" Tidal continued.
Caravaggio sneered. "The combatants were not honorable. But they got what they deserved."
After a pause, he added; "You may simply call me Car."
"Well, this is all nice, but we are going to have a climb ahead of us." Dido replied. "And then we're going to have to make our way to Gelunith as quickly as possible so we don't freeze to death while likely fending off heaven's know what kind of demonic ilk. Did you all see how our breath was freezing by the entrance earlier? I imagine it's worse up above."
"Um, I might have something to help with the climb." Rachel said, demonstrating her power with hand motions. "I have an ability call Steps of Night. I can use it to create little platforms that I can step onto and walk my way up the cliff. I could take the rope with me and tie it off up near the top, then the rest of you could climb up without having to stop and secure it every so often."
"That's and excellent idea. And I can tie all the ropes together so we have a long enough rope to make one big climb." Dido added.
The group proceeded to finalize their plan over the next hour while they warmed up in the hut.
***
The walls of the hut began to dissolve from the top down as Rachel released the spell from active use. The four party members inside were greeted to the sight of Caravaggio sitting cross legged on the ground half way between where the hut had been moments before and the entrance to the cave. He seemed to be affixing a small skull to his shield.
Dido walked over to Caravaggio. She stops in front of him and looks expectantly with a hand out reached. After a moment, he looks up at her having finished attaching the skull to his shield and then grabs one end of the rope he has laying beside him. Dido takes the offered end and walks over to Rachel. Rachel had the rest of the rope bundled neatly around her body so she could still move while carrying it. Dido grabs one of the ends and ties the new length of rope to it.
After completing an expertly ties knot, Dido begins to wrap the new length of rope around Rachel. Once she had completed this task, Caravaggio got up form his spot on the ground and walked over to Rachel. Bending over so that he could speak directly in Rachel's ear, Caravaggio whispered the command word into her ear. Rachel nodded that she understood and then made her way to the cave entrance. Taking a deep breath, she hopped off the ledge at the entrance and landed on a previously non-existent platform. It looked like a flatten crystal with colors pulled form a night sky. Deep blues, purples and other dark shades made up this crystal platform which stood oddly in contrast to the bright blues and whites of the ice that made up their surroundings. Confident that the spell was working, Rachel began to hop her way up, like a child climbing a set of stairs that were too big for them to make in normal steps. It wasn't too long before she disappeared above the line of sight from back in the cave.
The group waited patiently near the entrance for a sign that Rachel had completed her accent. After a good 20 minuets or so, a rope fell back into view of the entrance. Tidal stepped out to the edge and grabbed the rope. He gave it a strong tug and the rope stayed in place. Feeling that it was secure, Tidal left the ledge and began to climb up the rope. Soon after, Flewid joined him and began the climb, followed by Caravaggio then Dido.
The climb took longer for the rest of the group than compared to Rachel. After a good hour, the group made it's way to the top of the rope and onto the ice sheet. Rachel had been waiting just below the surface, waiting for the group to catch up. The wind up on the surface was bitter cold. There was no where to hide or find respite from the biting cold. Dido surveyed their surroundings and tried to get a barring on where their destination might be. There was only one mountain in view from their location and it stretched well above the clouds that obfuscated the sky. Sensing that this must be the way to proceed, Dido waved the group forwards and they started their trudge towards what they hoped was Gelunith and their entrance to Maladomini.
***
The group had been hiking for some time towards the mountain. The cold was beyond bearable. All the while, the sky was a constant overcast, seeming like a storm and not a storm. The clouds would roil and move, the wind ever constant. Visibility was maybe only good for maybe 100 feet.
As the group approached what Dido guessed might be the half way point, something was different. The storm had changed. Or had it? While the wind seemed to be coming from the direction of the mountain, a part of the storm behind them seemed to be getting closer. Caravaggio stopped to try and get a better look. Squinting his eyes, and covering his face from the wind, he stared at the storm. Sure enough, a part of the storm was moving against the wind towards them. It moved as though it was like a predator, almost bounding towards them. He turned back towards the group and managed a quick "Defend yourselves" before the storm was on them.
Tidal and Caravaggio had their weapons drawn and took up defensive postures around the group. Visibility was even lower now. The group could see each other, and maybe 10ft around them. Beyond that, it was just a swirl of clouds, dust, and ice. There were a few large rocks jutting out of the ground like the claws of a fiend. The formation was near where the group was positioned and they tried to take cover by them. As they began to move however, three forms materialized from the storm.
The dust and ice swirled together to form large cat like creatures. These Hellcats resembled large saber-toothed tigers. But along their backs was a series of spines made of ice. Their large front teeth also looked like giant icicles. Their fur was a mix of brown, gray and blue hues. Each had glowing blue eyes that moved like will-o-wisps in the storm and their tails swung back and forth with sharp motions. While they each made stalking movements towards the group, no sound could be heard from their paws as they took each step.
As the group took up their positions near the rock formation, the winds in this storm blew even greater. Rachel could feel this cold slowing her down and freezing parts of her skin. From her position, she couldn't make out any of the Hellcats. Taking a moment to look out from the rock she was pressed against, she caught sight of the blue will-o-wisps moving just out beyond her visible range, obscured by the storm raging around them. Taking a few paces out and away from the rock, she made out the outline of a Hellcat. Without hesitation, Rachel flung a hand out in front of her and incited an incantation. From beneath the creature, a swirl of magical flames arose and struck the beast, clearly causing some harm. The Hellcat let out a yelp of pain as the flames seared part of it's fur. Hearing this, Tidal was able to pinpoint it's location and bellowed in rage as he stormed over. Getting just within visual range of the beast, Tidal let fly a javelin he had been holding. The javelin landed true to it's mark and pierced the creatures fur. Letting out another howl, the Hellcat charged towards Tidal with it's large ice fangs bared. The beast swung with it's front claws, but Tidal bobbed and weaved around them. In frustration at missing it's target, the Hellcat snapped it's jaws at Tidal, but this action was also futile as the minotaur was just to quick and leaned out of it's path.
About 20ft away Dido and Flewid were pressed against another rock in the formation. Dido was the first to catch a glimpse of another of the Hellcats. Drawing her sword, she quickly darted out from the rock and made two quick slashes against the beast's flank. Then she came back to take shelter under the rock once more. Flewid, feeling emboldened by Dido's skill, decided to perform an attack of his own. Moving his head from side to side and cracking a few neck bones, Flewid then shook his head as fur started to sprout form his smooth skin. But it wasn't just his skin. All his clothing started to blur together with the rest of his form as he transformed into a large dire wolf. Now twice the size he had been before, his new wolf form strode out to the Hellcat that Dido had only moments before struck. With a quick growl, he leapt at the creature and sunk his claws and teeth into its side. The momentum of his charge had knocked the Hellcat down to the ground, leaving it prone as he viscously attacked the creature.
Flewid's hold of the creature didn't last long. The third Hellcat soon leapt from the storm and pounced on him. The third Hellcat was more viscous than Flewid and striked him over and over again with it's claws and fangs. With a final swing of it's front claws, the beast sent Flewid's dire wolf form sliding across the ice as he reverted back to his genasi form.
It was then that Caravaggio came darting in from the side of the last Hellcat. With the precision of a surgeon, Caravaggio sliced into the side of the creature. Before the Hellcat could track it's quarry however, Caravaggio had darted back into the storm he had come out of only moments before.
Rachel and Tidal were now working in tandem against their Hellcat. Rachel swung her flail and striked the beast with Tidal then following up with a swing from his war hammer. However, the hammer's blow didn't seem to have as much of an impact, which Tidal noticed as he swung it into the creature side. The cold was starting to get to him as well as parts of his skin began to freeze in the storms fast moving wind. The Hellcat tried to swing back but both combatants were able to dodge it's swings.
On the ground, Flewid started to push himself back on to his feet. Seeing one of the Hellcats barring down on him, he started thinking fast. Quickly, he performed a spell. Suddenly, there were four Flewids standing around were there previously had only been one. The Hellcat pounced on the first, but it just shattered like glass and dissipated. Then it struck at another and it too broke and disappeared. With only two left, the beast snapped it's jaws on the next closest, but it too was a decoy.
Before the creature could act on the last remaining Flewid, which was the real one, Dido and Caravaggio both struck at either side of the beast. With a howl, the Hellcat vanished with the wind. It was like it had never been there. The Hellcat near Rachel and Tidal does the same thing. The only one left is the prone Hellcat near Caravaggio that Flewid had knocked prone. The whole group lets out a battle cry as they begin to charge over to the last target. Flewid retook the form of the dire wolf as he charged over.
Caravaggio was the closest and brought his sword up to bring a sharp blow down. Just as his blade was about to hit the creature's hide however, it vanished into the winds as well. The wind then began to pick up. It almost sounded like the wind was howling with disappointment. Then, as quickly as it had arrived, the storm moved off back in the direction it had come from.
The group took a moment to take stock of how each other are doing. They were all still standing, but had taken some hits during the fight. Rachel called everyone over to her, as she began to perform an incantation. A mist began to sweep out form her flail and rejuvenated the party as they stood around her.
Dido stood over Flewid checking him over for any wounds he might have sustained in the fight.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Flewid protested as Dido examined him.
"You took a couple of direct hits in that fight. I just want to make sure you won't slow us down as we continue to the mountain." Dido retorted.
"I won't slow us - " Flewid stopped mid speech. His body began to glow a bright light. A familiar light, yet new to the group. Then, with a flash, Flewid was gone. In his place, a small wooden pipe with a splintered chamber. Dido bent down and picked it up. She examined it. Turning to the group, she looked at them for any ideas. Blank faces just stared back at her. No one had any idea what had happened or how to fix it.
Placing the pipe carefully in her pocket, Dido secured her gear and motioned towards the mountain while addressing the group;
"Let's move out folks. We still have to find our path out of this frozen hell hole."
The group began moving forwards again. The form of Gelunith towering before them.
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