ACTION REPORT (played 12-9-2018)

Attn: #RadagastVonFigaro #Skae’phae #FactolOmbedias #Jecht #Jeckt #RedShroud #Godsmen #Abyss #Ricardo #Zelita #Doomguard #RazorForge #Ferrug #Tenari #Armanite #TheBishopsMen #Dash-A #Balbeeto #Pazunia #airship

The party met in a tavern in Sigil, recounting what we have learned from our respective adventures. My followers, whom I’ve started calling the Bishop’s Men, returned with Skippy after challenging the rock in Ysgard. Dash-A has apparently started a slag glass company; the Bishop has taken on him and his followers to construct an appropriate centerpiece window for the Dirty Habit tavern. And Bishop, Reinhalt, Toby and Balbeeto returned from Broken Reach. [see previous action report]

To summarize the latter group’s discoveries:

• - Reinhalt discovered that the Abyssal town of Ferrug had been badly damaged, possibly even destroyed, when a massive ship and its crew stopped there. The ship was designed with a skull on its prow.

• - The forests in Pazunia are not safe; one in every ten tree is a viper tree. Also, it’s best to stay on the established paths and wave Gra’zzt’s banner, in order to not be pressed into the Blood War armies.

• - The Bishop learned that the ships are currently docked at Razor Forge, another Abyss citadel. Being the source of a great amount of iron, they will soon face a dearth of metal.

A plan was somewhat hashed out. Helga decided we need explosives– either in the black powder, or alchemical fire varieties. Helga checked with her contacts, while the Bishop sent his followers to Ylem, the Modron Wizard in the * Unordered List ItemHive; the Tiger Claw gang, in the same district; the proprietor of the Treasure Box shop in the lady’s ward; and Gwydion, a long-time friend to the gang. The gang split up and enjoyed some down-time: Dash-A at his shop, Bal feeding the poor and attacking the rude, Reinhalt consulting with other planeswalkers, Helga trying to buy explosives and failing, and Cal with his ladyfriend. The Bishop was able to meet Factor Ombidias, thanks to Dash-A, and proposition an offer: the Foundry might supply Pazunia with ore, while the Bishop received 5,000 gold pieces as a finder’s fee.

The next morning, the Bishop’s Men returned: Ylem was too focused on his studies, both Gwydion and the Tiger Claw knew a someone who could sell and offer a 10% discount, and the owner of the Treasure Box knew a place that sold Blast Disks. Helga went and purchased them soon after. Meanwhile, Reinhalt discovered that the Doomguard had inquired about the mysterious two-way portal that no one ever returns from, and that they had left just that same noon-time. The plan to leave Sigil the following day is immediately scrapped in favor of leaving that night. When the party reconvenes that evening, at a barbershop owned by a human woman, Zelita, Cal and Balbeeto tip her generously, and she promises to keep the door open– and thus the portal active– for as long as possible. Also, the Bishop is accompanied by the brash and braggart Ricardo.

Ricardo was hired hastily among the Fated’s planeswalkers. Although the airship is a bit of an unknown quantity, the Bishop decided to trust Ricardo’s skills as a pilot and navigator to hopefully steal the ship away. He’s being paid at 5x the normal rate (2.5 gold daily), paid 2/5ths upfront, and the rest later. Not knowing how long the journey’d take, Ricardo is hired on for a month.

Skippy performs a special, inspiring song to protect the party (“The Ballad of Corwig the Pustulent”) and inaugurate their new mission into the Abyss. It is evening when the party passes through the portal, but it is eternal noon on the other side. Immediately, the group is greeted by tortuous screams suddenly cut off. Creeping forward to investigate, they see a massive creature with two heads– a demonic beast’s head, and a long snake’s body attached like an appendage to the devil’s back– casually slurping blood from a freshly pulled-off leg. The snake head tries to goad the main torso to attack us, or press us into the Blood War, but he’s fully sated from his bloody meal. The group gives the creature a wide-berth, not really pitying the gaunt whisper gnome that’s shackled to a long chain attached to the demon. We figure that’s what’s preventing planeswalkers from returning through that portal.

We leave the portal area and discover a seemingly abandoned village of sorts, and, pressing on, we discover the area is also ringed by a dense forest. Skippy, Bishop and Reinhalt take the lead, navigating through the woods and avoiding the occasional viper-tree.

Emerging through the forest, we discover the Abyss is preternaturally and scorchingly sunny, ochre-red, dusty, and flat. In the distance we can see the edge of a glowing lake of iron, and a massive fortress halfway obscured by all the dust plumes. It’s far away, but we can make out winged creatures, Tenari, we learn later, dismantling the fortress in droves. It’s a no-brainer; we avoid the area altogether and make a wide arc around both the lake and the fortress.

We camp a good distance away from the fighting between the large rocks that are scattered everywhere. During our rest, Cal and Dash-A catch sight of four large creatures– Armanites, like giant centaurs with metal plates fused into their skin– coming our way. The Bishop creates an illusion of people running away, which causes the intruders to break into twos, buying the party time.

Cal becomes a dire polar bear and grapples one Armanite, while Helga, Bal and Toby fight another. Helga makes short work of one, and then two others fall. To the side, the Bishop charms one Armanite, who becomes our friend. His name is Jecht, or possibly Jekt. His humor’s a little rough, and he and Bal find great enjoyment in constantly needling each other.

Jecht guides us through the Abyss, leading us towards Razor Forge. The journey takes two days, and we rest inside shelters created by Reinhalt’s stoneshape spells– on the first night we find another Armanite full-on galloping away from Razor Forge, but we’re too far from the road to intercept him. The second night, we’re nearly discovered by monstrosities, called Chasme, flying overhead– even Jecht is terrified of them, saying the Chasme will press anyone they come across into fighting in the Blood War.

On the third day, we finally get our first sight of Razor Forge, just in time to see the airship lifting off and coming our way.

“That’s the airship I want you to pilot for us,” I tell Ricardo. It’s an awful and awe-inspiring sight, 100 feet long and 90 feet wide, with a massive, broken-toothed skull for a pro. Ricardo tries to flee from the contract, and Helga reminds us all we’re supposed to destroy it. I make a verbal agreement with Ricardo– with Bal and Reinhalt as officiating witnesses– if we are able to procure this ship and make it ours, then I will pay him 1,000 gold upon arrival in Sigil. Reinvigorated with gusto, Richard says he can do it.

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