Abyss Modified Session 27: Contracts

Buttercup, Dinak, Drifting Cloud, Godric, Orion, Thelrum, and Xanaphia started the nights adventure in the bar discussing contracts with the Companion. Thelrum used magic to see if there were any magical secrets hidden within the text. There were many.

The basics of the contract were as follows “This contract does legally bind the following members of the adventuring party known as (still no party name) into the service of one known as The Companion, Bearer of Many Names, the Nine Crowned King. The service will involve but will not be limited to destroying the demonic plague that is tearing across Toril. The way they complete this task is up to them and the one offering this service will not be held accountable for their actions unless they are successful in removing the mentioned threats present in relation to demons. If they fail in this task, they and their belongings will be inherited both body and soul to above mentioned employer.” Standard contract stuff. The party signed.

As the odd red ink dried the group watched at the Companion’s white bushy beard pulled back into a deep pitch-black goatee and his skin became a devious shade of crimson. They were dealing with a devil. It seemed the devils and the demons don’t really get along and have been fighting in a war for quite some time. Thelrum took out his book on the Blood War and started verifying the Companion’s story. It seemed the old goddess Mystra had a few temples hidden across the land and the party was to go and fix all of them. A difficult task for most but their locations are only known to a group of hags up within the frost of Icewind Dale. The Companion told them to travel there and bring a gift with them for the hags, so they don’t try to eat the party. Also the group was not to tell anyone about their contract or that they knew the Companion.

Godric and Drifting Cloud talked to a wizard in town trying to figure out what a few of their long-owned items were and dumping out old liquified rations from the Underdark out into the trash. They figured the Slaad gem they had would make a good gift. Taking in this pile of information the party grabbed cold weather gear, told their skeletal horses to follow the hot air balloon, and took to the sky. Their first day of travel was mostly boring, with only one shimmering white movement on the horizon, they figured it was probably a dragon so not much they could do about that. When night fell Dinak cast his rope trick and a few of the party climbed into the extradimensional space and tied the hot air balloon off to the aforementioned rope. The rest of the party slept in the balloon. During the night they heard hooting of well distant owls and saw figures searching the forest below them for something.

In the morning they started drifting further along their path to Icewind Dale and noticed smoke coming from what appeared to be a burning caravan with an encampment beyond it. They got closer and spotted a well armored orc by the largest tent. He ordered someone to bring him food and reentered the tent. Thelrum launched a fireball into the tent, destroying it and angering the still hungry chieftain. Chaos reigned and the orc summoned his wizard, who threw a fireball at the hot air balloon. The party did not expect this. The balloon ruptured, the basket caught fire, and the party started flying. Thelrum used his ring of feather fall, Buttercup used her wings to fly off, and Xanaphia cast feather fall on everyone else. As they made their way down the orcs started firing bows at them and several orc warriors and an ettin started running up to intercept the slowly falling party. Also three gryphons with orc riders took to the sky. The party slowly made their way to the ground and proceded to murder the orcs, vexing the wizard, the chieftain started running away, the ettin put up his best fight, and the gryphons were driven off after their riders were killed, one of which did perish and land on top of its rider, snapping the orcs neck. Orion was able to get in many good hits, Xanaphia danced away from wild surges, Buttercup impaled orcs and gryphon riders, Thelrum dazzled the party with a feat of martial magic, attacking multiple targets with melee strikes and teleporting between them, Dinak took out the distant threats, Drifting Cloud summoned a swarm of scarabs which started eating people, and Godric fought valiantly against his foes with booming blade and hexes. As the chieftain was throwing his minions behind him Dinak did him in with arrows.

The rest of the orc force ran away once the leader started running, leaving behind the gnomes they had attacked and captured. The gnomes were traveling merchants and engineers and as a thank you for saving them were going to fix the balloon and make it better with gnomish enchantments. We ended there for the night.