Off a nearby road, Rorrick was looking for his beloved fiancee Elayne. He saw the Purple light and raced off to investigate. Similarly, Sionnciadh (Schoon-chee) appeared nearby and she raced her fox friend to the fight.
After some consideration, the only way they could follow where the demons were taking the slaves was to let themselves be teleported as victims, so they allowed the Dretches to encircle them.
Instantly they appeared in a large room with a burned mark on the ground appearing like the one they saw in the Farmhouse and on the field. They quickly dispatched the foes and move into an adjacent hall.
Large arrows careened at the party, and Ulrich rode to meet the creature shooting the hail or arrows. An Arrow Demon, they later learn, did well until Shoon-chee bravely stole its arrows and the party beat it down. At the end of the hall there was a special chest with a Snowflake on it. Galdroon casted Ray or Frost at it, opening it where it provided gifts for the party. After the din of battle, the party noticed this strange humming noise emanating from he next room.
Peaking into the next room, the party sees a Beholder (they find out later that Kalx was a Gauth, a form of lesser beholder) ordering stolen villagers to jump into a large violet dome. The villagers did so, on a threat of death. The party attacked, and despite Kalx trying to stop them or warn them about his importance, the party defeated him.
The moment this happened the severe Planar Breach began to suck in the surrounding area like a whirlwind. The ceiling came down and a chunk of rock through Ulrich into the air... the rest of the party falling into the purple void below.
Soon the party would arrive at an Island where there were more civilians had been teleported prior to them. The island was small and had a city of black glass in its center. Once they stood up, Alusair threw Chisai's sword (which she had been practicing with) over on the ground. A splinter of light emanated from it and soon Alvar was returned to the party! He quickly explained he had been watching the whole time from inside of the sword, which made Alusair blush. Schoon-chee casted fly and checked out the island.
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On the 245th layer of the Abyss, on an island of black glass in a vast sea of acid, stands the ruins of a small town made entirely of that same black glass. Embedded in the walls of this town are its former inhabitants, creatures that seem human but might be half-elves or even aasimars. All are frozen in attitudes of extreme agony, their mouths open as if to utter one last scream. In the center of this macabre village sits a large public fountain, still working after countless centuries - though rather than spraying out water, the fountain sprays out potent, searing acid.
The Fountain of Screams is a planar touchstone, granting powers over acid to those who can withstand its dangers.
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Alvar, Sa'ar and Voxen, in cat form, decided to help the trapped citizens while the others moved to the other side and approached a vessel. The vessel, Schoon-chee discovered, was one of the Ferryboats of the Marraenoloth.
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Marraenoloths/Charonodaemons are thin, gray, pale-eyed humanoids are easily identified by their skeletal faces, somber hooded robes, and eyes that glow red when they are angry. They are a cold species, mercenary at heart, like all yugoloths. They are telepathic and, in addition to speaking all languages, maintain mental contact with others of their race at all times.
Habitat/Society: Marraenoloths are unique among the yugoloths in that they havy an established task: They are boatmen who pilot small skiffs on the black waters of the River Styx. Unlike many other fiends, the marraenoloths can pass from plane to plane without arousing suspicion in the minds of others. They are ferrymen and ferrymen only. Other fiends would love to subvert the marraenoloths to spy on their Blood War enemies, but these creatures are only concerned with their passengers.
Marraenoloths have an innate understanding of the twists and bends of the River Styx’s channels, so they never get lost (unless it’s convenient to do so). These creatures also can pilot their crafts through the Astral Plane and to the boundary of the Prime Material Plane. They can actually enter the Prime Material, too, but they must leave their skiffs behind. A marraenoloth without a vessel is lost and useless, so they are naturally reluctant to venture far from their crafts. Occasionally they are summoned or sent to the Prime, anyway, to transport some being to or from the Lower Planes (using a special plane shift ability that work for this task only).
Marraenoloths carry passengers but never cargo, always demanding immediate payment for their services. (Greater fiends may ignore this, forcing the marraenoloth to serve them.) The may demand a magical item, a bag of 10 platinum coins, or two gems of 50 gp value (or more). If not paid, the marraenoloth will seek to prevent the would-be passenger from entering its boat, and it will teleport itself and its craft away at the first opportunity.
Even if a marraenoloth is paid (as opposed to being sent by a higher evil force), there is still a 15% chance that the creature will betray the passenger, either by delivering him to the incorrect destination or plane (85% chance) or by leading the summoner into an ambush (15% chance). This chance of betrayal can be reduced by making additional contributions to the marraenoloth’s hoard (-5% per additional payment listed above).
Since all marraenoloths are aware of each other, all know of any person who cheats or harms anyone of their kind. They won’t come to each other’s aid (that would indicate concern for their fellows), but the identity of the transgressor is noted, and future services from any of these yugoloths will require greater payments and incur a significantly higher risk of treachery. The cheater can return to the good graces of the boatmen only by making a suitable sacrifice to all their kind. The nature of this tribute is left to the DM, but a typical one would be the surrender of rare gems or several unique magical items, presented with due ceeremony and contrition.
Ecology: There are among the most neutral of the evil yugoloths, existing to collect their fares and nothing else. They stay clear of the politics of the Blood War. Because their skills are valuable to tanar’ri and baatezu alike, the other fiends tolerate this neutrality. As much as some infernal lord might like to subjugate them, it’s understood they would no longer function properly if that happened.
As a marraenoloth without its sailing duties is fairly worthless, even as a lowly foot soldier in the Blood War, no one has attempted to take control of them. However, they may unwittingly play pawns in the subtle plottings of some baatezu or tanar’ri.
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After dispatching some Dretches and a Babau, the party noticed a black building, with the bodies shaved off, with smoke billowing from a chimney. Once inside the party was stunned to find that this was simply a shop. The owners had hoped there would be more business this way but dropped prices down for the adventurers. They provided some basic information about how to travel the Abyss.
The party made it to the Ferryboat, where the Charonodaemon in human form was ready to transport the citizens away. The party paid for the citizens to be ferried home to the Material plane, and one such citizen, who lived in Baldur's gate, Malcolm Reynolds, said to look him up. The party paid the cost and the entire group was taken through the Acid Ocean to the River Styx and onward to the 6th Layer of the Abyss, the Realm of a million eyes.
The Ferryman dropped the party off in the coastal city of Spazzu, a city rising from the River upwards and into a enormous cave. All around, the party could see eyes situated throughout the caves, looking about. With the crazy looking cultists of the Great Mother all about, the party realized they needed to fit in. With a chance of luck, Schoon-chee and Rorrick were able to notice a slave! But not just any slave, Rorrick's fiancee Elayne!
After talking with her the party decided to stay at a local inn. They learned about the city, the slaves and their purpose, the Ocular Adepts, and their Factions. There will be another post about the city itself.
Being the Order of the Broken Chain, the party sought a chance and attacked a M'kar Cult Gathering, dispatching a 9th level Cleric of the Great Mother, and after another meeting with Elayne, are planning to attack the Cult that has enslaved her.
(please make any comments of anything I have missed)
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