ACTION REPORT
Attn: #RadagastVonFigaro #Skae’phae #CountFerdinand #TreavorPendleton #Sensates #Sylvania #DirtyHabit #FilthyFrock #SavrinMoore #Lucius #Kruge

After spending a day shopping in the Ladies’ Ward in Sigil, I and Skippy returned to the Dirty Habit tavern to prepare for our dinner date with Count Ferdinand del Mar, a representative of the Sensates, running the Filthy Frock, a poor satire of the Dirty Habit, right down to the identical floor plans. I dashed off a letter to Lucius and Kruge, two associates in the Hive Ward, that I would like to retain their services for the evening, and to wait at the old Pelor church in the Hive.

I, Skippy, and one of my wards met Savrin Moore, who quickly dashed off a letter, then joined us for dinner with the Count. Dinner is pleasant, and cordial, if not exactly warm. After asking what it was I wanted, I tell the Count that I appreciate his prank, and appreciate his keeping this non-violent. The Count is absolutely gobsmacked, and reveals– via Thieves Cant– that he is tired of the farce, and wishes to leave everything behind. However, his patron, Treavor Pendleton, would likely seek revenge on the Count himself, and the Count fears the resources at Pendleton’s disposal, and Pendleton’s penchant for vengeance.

A sort of truce developed, and any suspicions I might have about the Count’s admission were allayed when we received a letter later that evening, written in cipher. A copy of the letter has already been filed by Savrin Moore, but I recreate it here, to avoid cross-referencing:

allow me to allay some of your suspicions before i tell you what i know.
first, am i using you? yes. in the sense that i want to untangle myself from the tiresome web of politics, i want you to dirty your hands so that i can be free to move on without having to look over my shoulder or ruining my career. but you stand to benefit as well, so this is hardly sinister.
is this a trap? no, but you have no reason to believe me. trust me or don't. helping a member of the enemy harm one of my own could be considered disloyalty at best, treason at worst, so i'm staying in a position to deny everything if a have to. you'd do the same to me if positions were reversed.
now, the man in question. his prison is a gilded cage, a sumptuous retreat that he can never choose to leave. it is an invisible badge of shame, but he wants for no comfort. his “vacation manor” is in the woods of arborea, a day\'s ride from the gilded hall itself. remote land, protected by the faction's own guards.
his wealth is under his nose, almost literally. he keeps every copper under lock and key in his own quarters, the key about his neck. he's allowed any visitors he wants, messengers, his own spies and agents come and go freely. only he is forced to remain on the property. a fact that must rankle him deeply. i visited him once in person, and spoke by message at all other times.
his jailer, such as it is, is the guard captain, watcher tickspring. a warforged soldier loyal to the faction first, his code of law second, and nothing else. his elite cadre of warforged guards oversee all the other guards in keeping danger out, and their ward in.
i will deny everything if accused of this collaboration. in a very worst case scenario, i will claim i was setting you up in secret. i hope it never comes to that.

ACTION REPORT
Attn: #RadagastVonFigaro #Skae’phae #Zelatar #Graz'zt #Enial #DonalSanp #SignoftheBlackHeart #Abyss #RuleofThree #vipertrees #SlipperyJack #TwistedDeath

Enial, a friend whose own path separated from ours, recently met with us with a request to go into the Abyss, a task that's easier said than done.
REDACTED: Enial came into possession of a mysterious key some time ago, while on an excursion in Torch, a key for which he had no lock. It seems he might have found his answer, however, but poor boy was in no condition to go. It's no wonder he asked me to go in his stead, to Zelatar, to meet a certain Donal Sanp, a Bone Naga ambassador to a Drow undead goddess. Donal Sanp would exchange information about the key's paired lock in exchange for information about a certain Shadow King, a figure that seems to be behind even the Black Lotus slavers. Enial dared not go, as he feared Yugoloths were out to get him.
This Shadow King seems like quite the figure, one who received the aid of the gods, and has also killed a god.

Helga obtained the Merchants' Pass in my name from Rule-of-Three, some wizened githzerai in the Golden Opportunity, a tavern in Sigil, while Dash-A somehow procured several barrels of alcohol– run-off tainted water from the Foundry, he says, fortified with cyanide and other poisonous liquids that would kill anyone but a demon. For the purposes of branding, we called it “Twisted Death.” We hired a teamster, Jeffrey, with his own horse and wagon, at a rate of 3gp a day, to carry the stuff for us.

Following a night of down-time (as documented in my previous Faction report), we set off early in the day, through a portal into the Abyss. I opted to stay in disguise as a tiefling, just in case. Almost immediately, we encountered a long retinue of wretched slaves and slavers, one of whom tried to accost Helga (I would've loved to see that happen) but recoiled when we produced our merchants' pass. Zelatar itself was not far off, but we had some trouble with the entrance into the scythe-topped, walled city, from a pair of viper trees. Half of us were attacked, as it seems the vipertrees love nothing more than knocking our morally upright friends down a notch. Perhaps it's a toll of some sort.

Just through the gate, a number of guides offered their services. We had no idea whom to trust, so I decided to trust my instincts, and called out in Thieves Cant to see who would respond. Ideally, I would have avoided those that answered the message, but the others latched onto one crippled Vrock, Slippery Jack. He was quite a bit pricey at several hundred gold pieces, but since he's crippled, I figure he couldn't fly away if he cheated us. Interestingly, Balbeeto spoke Abyssal. I was not aware of that before.

True to his word, however, Slippery Jack navigated us through Fogtown (Zelatar simultaneously exists on three layers of the Abyss– the 45th, 46th and 47th, of which Fogtown was the 45th, and our target was on the 46th) to reach the Green-fire gates, a massive green-flamed bonfire in a square that served as a portal gate to Gallenghast, which was a far cry from Fogtown. The architecture was markedly different, cosmopolitan and genteel, and colored from upscale marketplaces, whereas Fogtown is not that different from Sigil's own Hives.

From the Green-fire gates, it's a nearly straight road to the Sign of the Black Heart inn, our destination. The place dominated an entire block by itself. A number of entrances, one on each side (so far as I could tell), led to an inner courtyard. Windows were only found on the second-floor windows, not the first, and a garden could be seen atop one wall. The roofs were topped with something that resembled razorvine. Vrocks circled above, possibly hired help and security. Slippery Jack took his leave from us, citing he'd wait for us by the gates, but not before extorting an eye-raising bonus for himself from Dash-A.

ACTION REPORT
Attn: #RadagastVonFigaro #Skae’phae #Zelatar #Graz'zt #Enial #DonalSanp #SignoftheBlackHeart #Abyss #SlipperyJack

We stabled our horses, although a trio of dimwit demons taunted our poor driver. They took a keen interest in our wares, so we gave them a sample, and decided to alternate shifts watching over the wagon. I cast Telepathy on Balbeeto, Reinhalt, and Dash-A, the last of whom was with the cart, so we could remain in constant contact.

After a few missteps trying to find the right entrance to bring our drink sample, we finally found the proprietor– an enormous, tentacled creature in unnatural darkness– who enjoyed the drink and agreed to an exclusive, limited distribution basis. We also bargained for a room, where we all gathered and planned. The room was well-appointed, if a bit simple, with a silver mirror that positively radiated scrying auras. We removed it from the room temporarily, and divvied up responsibilities to find out which room, exactly, Donal Sanp resided in. Reinhalt and Balbeeto checked the other rooms in the hallway, then afterwards joined Helga and I in the common room.

There was some slaad-like creature counting his money at a table to himself, and a Lamia noblewoman at another table, practically fondling one of the three tiefling bar staff. At Reinhalt's suggestion, I called over one of the remaining tieflings, and bid him to sit with us. With a little silent, magical persuasion, I was able to glean which rooms belonged to the lamia, and which room– the suite by the garden– our ambassador was in. I telepathically filled Dash-A in on the news, and Reinhalt went to make the exchange. Shortly after, the lamia herself grew bored, and left the room, but within minutes, she exploded back into the room, shouting something in Abyssal. I supposed the jig was up, considering how the tieflings backed away, and the frog creature stared at us with hate. The Lamia fled, shouting at the top of her lungs; there was no sign of Reinhalt, and I wondered whether he completed his mission or not.

To her credit, Helga leapt and protected me from the approaching Slaad, dealing it a massive, wicked blow. She commanded Tobey to help me escape, and bless him, I took them up on their noble gesture, fleeing from the back of the bar through a rear entrance. We were separated in three separate groups, and I knew not where my comrades were, but I could at least glean they were alright by skimming the brief flashes of thought from our telepathy bond. I hugged close to the walls of the Sign of the Black Heart, but saw some people from the main street eyeing me– the Lamia noblewoman's cries pierced the evening atmosphere, and I sensed the Vrocks watching over me.

Casting Expeditious Retreat, I bolted for the Greenfire gates, but she must have spotted me, for her Abyssal cry was pointed at my direction, and several demons took pursuit. Luckily, the Sign of the Black Heart is a mere 400 feet from the gate, so I didn't have to run far. I tripped them up with an illusory wall, and they attempted the same a few moments later, but cast Spider Climb just in case I had to run up a real wall. Chaos pursued me, and I could hear screaming, explosions and…a dragon's roar? Crikey, I had to get out of there!

Luckily, I soon spotted the approaching Greenfire Gate, and, next to it, Slippery Jack, whose wide-eyed shock as I leapt through the portal was a hoot to see. I exploded through the other side, back in Fogtown, and immediately hooked right, climbing up a squat, decrepit building overlooking the gate. The rooftop was full of that wretched razorvine, and it pierced my skin and clothes, but I didn't care much. The party emerged not long afterwards– Helga and Tobey riding Silverpaw and Cal, and Dash-A flying awkwardly through the air, it seemed. Two Vrocks appeared soon afterwards.

It was then that Skippy tapped me on the shoulder, and started playing a woeful melody, and I saw the greenfire flames dance in step to her song, and I understood. She was synching the portal! “To the land of the lizardfolks,” she said, concentrating hard on her tune, “If we redirect it to Sigil, a lot of people are bound to get hurt.” I agreed. Drawing my FeatherFall eternal wand, I cast it as I stepped off the ledge, and wafted almost casually back to the ground.

The party leapt through the gate in ones and twos, and one of the Vrocks followed them. The other Vrock turned its evil eye towards us, but a massive wind gusted, and resolved into the form of a once-invisible Reinhalt! What more, Reinhalt WAS the dragon I heard before! The Vrock froze me with its screech, but luckily Skippy kept her resolve and played on. I could only watch in frozen horror as the Vrock raised its talons to strike me, but Reinhalt shielded me from the terrible blow. He practically stumbled as he picked me up and tossed himself through the portal, with Skippy right behind.

Blast it all, I had the perfect quip for the occasion, too! Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!