The party was summoned to the Northern forests of Cormyr by the Order of the Gauntlet. The regional director, Ostur Barrelbringer, awaited them for a briefing. Ian prepared a teleportation circle, and as the party was travelling, they realized too late that an elderly man, named Jastus, a Hawthorne resident, had taken the circle as well, and arrived with them. Realizing this, they told him to go shopping, and that they would pick him up on their way back. The party headed North, and came upon an Order outpost, colloquially known as the House of Cormyr. A Halfling guard, named Listus, checked their identifying papers and ushered them inside. They found that Ostur had….a lady friend, named Elanil. She quickly left, and after an awkward period, the party was let inside Ostur’s office. He collected himself, and debriefed them. He explained that one of the Order’s lead operatives, named Rania Easthold, had gone missing in the deepest parts of the Abyss. She had been tasked with investigating and tracking the forces of Orcus, and had information about much of the Order’s operations. Beyond that, she was simply a good agent and person, and a friend of Ostur’s. He explained that if the enemy was capable of gaining hold of her soul, the information that they would be able to glean from it could be devastating. He needed the party to head down there and find out where she was, and try to recover her soul, at the very least, if possible. He offered to go with them, and after some deliberation, the party accepted the offer. Frederick, Ian, Olympia, and Colias headed down to the Teleportation Chamber, where several Gauntlet guards were preparing a transport. They explained to the party that heading directly into Orcus’ layer, Thanatos, was a no-go, as they would be discovered almost immediately. To circumvent this, they would be transported 5 layers above his realm, and need to find their way down. Olympia thought for a moment, and after consulting several old texts, discerned that the 5 layers would consist of: a layer of ash, a layer of delusion, a layer of the Blood War, a layer of Swamp, and finally, a layer with the Negative Energy Dominant trait. She also recalled that Orcus’ layer, Thanatos, was toxic to life and full of many of Orcus’ most dangerous servants. Fredrick asked Ostur if they would be able to obtain any sort of aid from a devil in order to pass through the blood war layer in one piece. Ostur did not like the idea, but asked for another Order member to go see what they could do. After around 30 minutes, they returned with 5 talismans, each of which was capable of shapechanging the creature wearing it into something that would blend in while down in the Abyss. The effects would last for 1d4 hours. The party, with their information and Ostur in tow, headed through the Teleportation Circle. It was a painful process, but after what seemed to be an eternity, they awoke on a dune of ash. Around them, black clouds billowed with dust and soot, and high mountains of ash rose in the distance. Many members of the party did not have a chance to even begin to absorb this, as ash-filled their lungs, and they began suffocating. Colias used his quick thinking to Catapult the ash out of his lungs. Ian tried to summon a storm, but as he inhaled for the spell, he began choking as well. Fredrick knew what must be done. He took out a horn, and not just any horn, a horn of Valhalla. He conjured forth 5 berserker spirits, brave warriors of Ysgard. They punched the ash out of each party member’s lungs, and Ostur was especially grateful, as he had been having a most dreadful time. The party thought about how to get out of this layer, as they realized that even though they could now hold their breath, they had only a few minutes at best. Olympia explained that the best way to get down was to...well, dig deeper. The berserkers quickly dug a hole, and exposed a portal to the next layer. The party travelled through it. Upon entering the next layer, they quickly discovered that all is not what it seemed. This layer appeared to initially be the material, right outside the gates of Hawthorne. Fredrick and Olympia knew better. Fredrick activated his Celestial vision, as he cast True Seeing. Olympia attempted to peer through the illusion, and did so successfully. Ian blindfolded himself, and shoved cotton in his ears. Colias was driven insane. With Olympia and Fredrick’s help, the party traversed this place, until they came upon a strange passage, which disintegrated everything that passed through it. They determined that if two objects passed through at the same time, only one would be destroyed. However, a simpler solution was Dimension Door, and it worked very well. Ian had to settle for Misty Step. The party found that they had now come to the entrance of the next layer, they cut their hands with the Talismans, and they had the foresight to realize that they would need some way to identify each other, as they put up a Telapathic Bond. Their physical forms altered and shook, and their skin melted, as teeth appeared in their palms. They had become Abyssal Wretches, and it would last for 2 hours. Ostur was particularly displeased, though he could do little to express it. The party traversed a battlefield, ducking under Balors and Pit Fiends as they exchanged blows. They darted around a horde of Goristros. They quickly passed over a slick, poisonous substance, which they were luckily immune to in their new forms. They looked up in awe, as a strange creature, with 14 eyes and horrid tentacles, lumbered over the pit that they had come to, its presence was so potent that it manifested illusions of other demons. The party recollected themselves, and jumped right into a pit of fire. They awoke in an oven, as they heard cackling somewhere nearby. They realized they were in an enormous cupcake tray, and they struggled to break free. They broke their binds, and Fredrick cast Reduce on the door, as it fell off its hinges. Now, this greatly irritated the hag who owned this oven, and she came over with much frustration to see what was wrong. As she did, Ian and Colias blasted her with a torrent of arcane power, as Fredrick broke concentration on Reduce, forcing her to stub her toe and fall on the stone floor. She tried to destroy them, but was countered by the party’s four wizards. She left the house, and Ostur cast Fire Storm, disintegrating the house, which Olympia found most troublesome, as she had wished to take the house. The party stepped out of the oven, and found themselves normal size once again. They blasted her, and cast her body into the Swamp. Olympia did the killing blow, smacking her with the cupcake tray, which was made of the bones of Gold dragons. After being hit with it, the hag died, and the bones managed to begin reforming, as the power of the group and that strike formed a wyrmling, which immediately Plane Shifted away. Noticing that they had accidentally awoken a hag neighborhood, the party jumped into the Swamp, which sadly contained Sewer Plague. They reached the bottom, and Olympia called on Ilmater, asking that he offer his guiding hand to shield the party’s life as they pass through the next layer. Fredrick called upon Helm, asking that he help them strike back the darkness. With a divine sword and shield, the party headed into the next layer. They found themselves in a barren landscape, a huge rift ahead of them. Olympia knew that they needed to reach the bottom of it, and both she and Fredrick knew that they only had around 15 minutes before the light shields would fade. They both knew that it was truly the only thing keeping them alive. They saw enormous creatures, wreathed in darkness, began forming at edges of their vision to their right and left, as well as presumably behind them. Olympia abd Fredrick recognized them. These were Nightwalkers and there were dozens of them. The party sprinted for the chasm, and, after readying flight methods, they leaped in. The managed to reach the bottom just in time to see 12 Nightwalkers crawling in behind them. As this happened, Fredrick cast Wall of Light, and a barrier of light disintegrated several of the creatures. Ostur took out another hammer and handed it to Ian, nodding. Ostur and Ian threw their hammers, and lightning crackled down from the sky, in a blast that took out 90 more of the horrid beings. The party braced themselves, and ventured into Orcus’ realm. They found the landscape to be revolting, the stone was made of compressed ash, and the sky was a dark blood red. Geysers of flesh blasted up nearby. They saw a portion of Orcus’ palace in the far distance, but quickly headed for their true goal. They found a structure that was used to house items, and after disintegrating the mindless ghouls that were working here, they found a stone container filled with coins. Soul coins. Each was initialled, and they found Rania’s coin. As they did this, a scream echoed across the landscape, and a creature that Fredrick recognized soared toward them on a winged construct, filled with some sort of skin. It dismounted, and performed a three point landing, before gazing at the party. It introduced itself as Gorguth, Orcus’ highest ranking commander, The Bleak General, The Bodak Lord of Thanatos. It unsheathed a black blade that dripped with ooze, and took out a flail that whispered strange thoughts. The party found that being near the creature started to drain their lifeforce. Olympia cast Telekinesis, and while he was restrained, Fredrick grabbed the Soul Coin box and activated his golden staff, as it transported the party to an old library. They talked for a while with Ostur, and after much deliberation, plane shifted back to the Order’s base, dropped the elderly man in Hawthorne, and then returned to the Gauntlet base again to sort out the coins. Fredrick and Ian had encountered similar soul entrapments before, and worked with Ostur to begin a ritual, which took 12 hours, around the coins. Olympia observed, and successfully learned the ritual. The coins must be placed on a blessed cloth or tapestry, on either the floor or a table, and no coin may touch another. The room must be under the effects of a Hallow spell, and the ritual performers must not be of evil alignment. The ritual succeeded, and the party conversed with the souls. 214 chose to be resurrected, while 85 chose to depart for the afterlife. Rania chose to be reincarnated, and came forth as a Forest Gnome. She was very grateful to the party. The Order performed a Mass Resurrection on the other souls, and sent many about their business. 47 were previously evil, and are under the watchful eye of the Order. 32 of the elves went to live with Ian, including a half-elf girl, named Avery. She is approximately 16. Olympia took the other 3 orphaned children, a halfing named Lucio, and two humans named Nicholai and Jarus. The party learned that Ostur and Elanil were engaged, and Fredrick and Olympia performed the ceremony, while Ian produced the cake and Colias made decorations. The wedding went phenomenally, and the Order thanked them again. The party headed home, as Olympia returned the non-orphaned children to their homes, this mission coming to a close.
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