Battle at a Black Keep in Malbolge

The party -- an unwieldy hoard of humans, mounts, and monsters -- came out of the cavern into a deep chasm, beside a lifeless stream, under a sky of blood red clouds. On Aegmir's suggestion they moved upstream, then further up a nearby ridge. Near the ridge, a fiery rain swept over the party, killing Dharistra's hippogriff mount.

After the rain, a winged female approached. She ignored most of the party, but questioned Aegmir, asking him why he had come and threatening to tell Moloch (ruler of the realm) of his intrusion. Aegmir seemed to know her -- he called her Tasha -- and they exchanged insults and threats before Tasha teleported away.

The party approached a copper bound black keep and stopped to ask directions. Inside they encountered a pit fiend on a throne attended by several lesser devils. Cheung, Oshiro, and Dharistra stepped forward, and after conversation with the pit fiend they learned the location of the canyon leading to Ademis' prison. But the pit fiend was displeased by Cheung's hesitation, when he asked what gifts the party had brought with them. Aegmir suggested they give Dharistra to the devils, and the situation deteriorated from there.

Then a trap door opened beneath Cheung, Oshiro, and Dharistra, dropping them into a pit containing a demonic spider creature and warded with an anti-magic shell. While the three characters struggled against the creature in the pit, which they could not harm without their magic weapons, Aegmir launched his own surprise attack against the party.

It took several attacks to discover that the devils originally seen in this chamber were illusions. In the mean time. Aegmir nearly killed Angus and Quivalis' grandson Voran, and acidic resin rained down on some party members trapped in the entry hall. Oshiro managed to escape the anti-magic shell in the pit by diving past the monstrous spider, but Cheung and Dharistra were mauled and their armor torn apart before they could escape up a rope.

Beyond the illusions filling the main chamber, the party discovered their real enemy: There were four 9' tall red scaled winged devils, and Aegmir in his true form as a pit fiend. The Great Druid's friend Morgoth turned into a gargantuan amethyst dragon and killed one devils and the spider in the pit. Kzin, the dwarf, killed another devil. The remaining devils fled, but not before launching attacks of fire and lightning against the party.

In the end, Cheung was dead from spider poison, Angus was dead from Aegmir's attacks and lightning, and some other hench-people had also perished. Quivalis (the bard) tried to bring Cheung back with a wish from his luck blade, but the ruler of this this hellish realm would only grant the wish if some other party member were killed. Although Quivalis was unwilling to do this, Oshiro was not. Oshiro wished Cheung back to life, sacrificing the sprite who had come with the Great Druid.

Next time we play, the party must decide: Many people are wounded and some are dead, making many of them want to turn back. But Cheung now knows the location of Ademis' prison, just a few short miles away. This may also be the start of the journey envisioned by the Great Druid. But Tasha, the winged woman who accosted Aegmir, may return with Moloch or his minions at any time.


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