Descent into Avernus (IC)

[Celticbear]

Baldur's Gate has never been a silent place, no city truly ever is. It's been louder than usual lately on account of the thousands wailing outside the gates. The background hum of the city streets is buzzing from both sides of the city walls, and all are talking about Elturel. What kind of power was required to wipe a city off the map in the blink of an eye, and is that same power going to be turned against Baldur's Gate? The worst fears speculate that Elturel was merely the testing grounds of a profane and wicked weapon. Worse thoughts still are being conjured by city's protectors, the Flaming Fists who point the blame squarely at the refugees whose city now lies where only the Gods know.

You all have been called for one reason or another by Captain Zodge, and directed to the Basilisk Gate. By planning or by happenstance, you find yourselves at the the location at roughly the same time as your peers. As each of you arrive in succession, the sounds of an uproarious mob can be heard growing louder by the second. It seems Zodge is a busy man, for a figure matching the description given to you can be seen at the heart of the crowd, his booming voice echoing to a gathered crowd of commoners, "Martial law gives me the right to execute any more sorry souls who wish to test my patience! This city is closed! You are all to return to your homes and businesses, or if you are a guest in my city, I suggest you find a decent tavern. Until I find which among the insipid mongrels at our doors is responsible for Ulder Ravengard's assassination, each and every suspicious individual is a suspect! I will not allow a single guilty suspect to escape my wrath!"

The angry words by the one-eyed captain only fan the flames as the commoners' uproar turns into pandemonium. A brick is thrown from the back of the crowd towards Zodge's head. The slow moving projectile is easily batted away, however, but the attack was all the excuse Zodge needed to escalate matters. With a deafening battle cry and a raise of his fist, Zodge gives his Flaming Fist lackeys leave to subdue the crowd. Fists are thrown and blood spatters the streets. Just another day in Baldur's Gate.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

A tattooed halfling girl in an ill-fitting leather brigandine hides among the crowd, instinctively wary of the big angry soldier at the center of its attention. One would think that people would avoid such a man if possible, but it seems as though everyone in the city wants something from him today. The halfling has no idea what that might be. It's hard to make out anything specific in the clamor of the crowd around her.

When the fighting breaks out, Dogfood clutches the prayer coin in her pocket and flees toward the crowd's periphery. It's all she can do to not get trampled. Still, she feels she needs to do something. She looks around and picks out a commoner who seems to be standing still, on the fence as to whether to stay or leave.

"Hey, you! Come on, you need to get out of here!" She shouts and hurries over to tug on their arm. Lu's surprisingly strong for someone so small and pale. Still, if this person were to cave that easily, then they wouldn't have stayed this long. They must have been here for a reason. "What was it you needed? I'll talk to him for you."

Spoiler

Show

Diplomacy to convince someone to tell her their problem and leave her to pass it along while they run to safety. It seems like a reasonable proposal. Most commoners would happily take an excuse not to risk life and limb, one imagines.

(1d20+3)[23]

[Lentrax]

Lelaia, for her part, watches the scene break out into a riot. And not wanting to get herself involved in the mess that is sure to follow, tries to find somewhere out of the way to see what will happen and how brutal the event will be.

[Bobthewizard]

Sev

The pitch-black, miniature dragon follows along with the others. He's a kobold, but ever since he was cursed, he looks more like a 2 foot tall baby dragon (3 feet to the tip of his tail), or maybe a Dragonborn toddler. However, he also has developed a surprisingly deep voice, much more like a real dragon than the typical squeaky, high-pitched voice of most kobolds.

He's not terribly interested in helping the Flaming Fist attack a group of commoners who are just demonstrating and asking questions. They are his people more than the Flaming Fist is. But he recognizes that Captain Zodge is more powerful than this mob, and that the Captain might let him kill a few people, which would be fun. He's been reluctant to kill people here indiscriminately for fear of getting thrown in jail again, but if he's given permission, he might just act on it.

But then he sees Lu go over and try to help someone. What is she thinking? She's going to miss her chance to kill some people, and get herself in trouble with Captain Zodge. He knows he needs to help her, so he runs after her, arriving just as she starts talking to the lucky commoner.

"Yes, tell us what you want. We'll get the message to Captain Zodge." Sev has no intention of helping this person. But if this is what he needs to say to get Lu out of danger, he will convince this person to listen to her. Lu was nice to Sev when they were both in prison together, letting him eat her leftover scraps of food. He's never had someone be nice to him before, so he wants to find out why she's doing it, and he needs to keep her alive to find that out.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Deception: (1d20+6)[26] (sort of a help action, but I'm lying and she's telling the truth so I just rolled deception)

[Celticbear]

"My cousin's on the other side of the gate! I've got room enough for him in me shed, but the flamin' f**k's ain't let him in yet. I just don't want him to get stabbed, y'hear all sorts of stories about muggins 'n the like. The fists don't go out the gate, it's bloody lawlessness out there's what it is," the commoner's speech is slurred, a dialect of the lower city. The scrawny peasant looked as if he was going to join in with a few fists of his own before the short duo approached him. Now he looks more wary. You can see he's visibly trying to determine if such a distant family member was worth his part in the commotion.

[Estralita]

As the Captain spoke, and the crowd roared in response, a blonde dwarven woman stood unnoticed on the edges. From her dirty, unremarkable face to her plain, tattered clothes, everything about her seemed to fade into the background. She herself did nothing to draw attention to herself, simply watching with a completely blank look on her face

Then the gathering turned into a riot, and something flickered in her eyes. She gives a brief shrug to no one in particular, and entered the fray. She turned to the first rioter she saw, and began punching them. Hard.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Attack Roll!

(d20+6)[9]
(d8+4)[12]

For the record, Lilith isn't trying to kill anyone. She just saw people fighting and decided to join in.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Okay, we'll ask," Lu says. "What's his name and what's your name?"

They only have a few seconds. Once she gets the names, she quickly nods. "Got it. Now go!"

She goes back to hiding at the safe edges of the fray. Depending on how the riot has progressed in these six or twelve seconds, it probably doesn't seem safe to repeat that little stunt. That, and Lu can only remember so many names.

"Thanks, Sev," she says once they're again in a spot where they can hear each other. "Let's go report to the captain as soon as we find an opening."

[JNAProductions]

Gloria does not look happy at the commotion. She knows that fighting on behalf of the downtrodden, here and now, won't help anything... But her instincts are SCREAMING to do it.

She grits her teeth and stays quiet, looking the other way.

[Celticbear]

The commoner Zev and Lu were speaking to accepts their advice and begins to run away. Less lucky souls are pummeled into unconsciousness and likely incarceration by the Fist guardsmen as well as Lilith. The fight doesn't last long as bodies either fall or flee, and soon enough the square is clear enough for Zodge to notice the more stranger faces in the crowd.

"Fists! Take the trash to the dungeons for questioning. Make sure their manacles dig into the skin, they should feel the burning presence of our justice as a constant reminder of their mistakes. Conscripts, come! Report to me your names and capabilities," Zodge looks at each and every one of you as if he already has what he asked of you. Clearly this show of authority is nothing more than stroking his own ego.

[JNAProductions]

"Gloria Navan," she replies. "Healer and fighter." She already doesn't like this man-but for now, she has to listen to him. At least he's merely asking for information, for now.

[Lentrax]

Le-Lelaia. I'm just a musician.

[Estralita]

As the fighting ceased, a slight look of dissatisfaction graced the dwarven woman's face. When the captain spoke, she turned to him and replied with a colorless voice.

"Lilith." She stopped and considered something for a second. "I hit things."

[Bobthewizard]

Sev

When Captain Zodge calls for the conscripts, Sev rushes over, inadvertently abandoning Lu in his desire to seem important for the powerful man.

"Yes, sir, Captain Zodge. I am Sev Gazuur, dragon slayer and sorcerer. What can we do to help?"

He stands at attention, but it's hard to tell with his 2' tall frame. While he seems to be sucking up, he is really thinking about how nice it would be to kill the Captain and take his post, ordering around these men and killing all of the commoners. That would be fun.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Again, everyone. My plan is for Sev never to do anything evil or disruptive. But to think it and sometimes say it just for flavor.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Capabilities, sir? I'm just dog food, sir, you know that!" Lu laughs. This earns her a glare at best, but the captain couldn't have expected much else from a halfling. They're always so overly familiar and courageous at the weirdest times. "Good to meet you, everyone! My name is Lu Pastora."

[Celticbear]

After looking down and frowning at each and every name once it's given, Zodge gives a long sigh. He arches his fingers across the bridge of his mostly broken nose before going into details. The tone he gives is the opposite of the official one before. To the crowd, Zodge was an authoritative prick unwilling to take no for an answer. That mask fades as the haggard, overworked, and frankly stressed man addresses you all, "While your conscription is compulsory, I'd like to thank you all for coming willingly. The Gate is a mess right now, but you know that. This bunch of foreigners at the door has really deprived our resources. While we deal with the miscreants outside, our capabilities of dealing with those within our walls is significantly hampered. That's why we need you, and why I'm going to accept nothing less than your compliance. Compliance which will be rewarded handsomely, I might add.

"I'm no fool, I know a city will never be free of crime. There will always be pickpockets and petty thieves in the Gate. What I can't abide are evil zealots actively practicing ritual service towards their dark gods. Once one cult sets up shop here, it'll be a breeding ground for more. Cultists are worse than roaches in this respect in my opinion. Specifically, the devotees of the Dead Three have been killing openly in the streets, and leaving obvious calling cards knowing we don't have the resources to hunt down whatever sewer hole they're cooped up in. Your task is to pursue the one lead we have, and exterminate every member of this cult. With your assurance their leaders are dead, each of you will be paid 200 gold. This fee is non-negotiable. If I find you're lying or slacking off on this task, then I'll drum up a team to remind you of your duties in as painful a method as possible. If you try and hide from me, I'll find more adventurers, Baldur's Gate is lousy with them, and I'll pay them double what I'm paying you to kill the cult and you lot. Do you each understand these terms?"

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

If you want to find out more about the Dead Three, you can make a roll and check out how much you know for certain.

Spoiler: Religion DC 10

Show

The Dead Three are composed of three Gods: Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul. These gods are very evil and their worship is usually accompanied by mass sacrifice.

Spoiler: Religion DC 15

Show

Each of these Gods were once mortals, but ascended into divinity when Jergal, Lord of the Dead, gave up his status and relinquished his power to three adventurer would be Gods. Bhaal became the Lord of Murder, Bane became the Lord of Conquest, and Myrkul became the Lord of Undeath.

Spoiler: Religion DC 20

Show

Cultists of these Gods have almost always been in Baldur's Gate, and to merit a reaction like this out of the Fists is strange. Either they've killed someone important, or they're just killing more in general. An overabundance of sacrifices and the disappearance of Elturel might not be a coincidence

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"A killing cult?" Lu brushes her tattooed arm as she processes all of this. Is stopping this the real reason she was released? "Of course, I understand. Can we see the calling card?"

[Lentrax]

I'm not in a position to turn down 200 gold. Even splitting it amongst us. I'm not sure how good I'll be in a fight, but okay.

[Celticbear]

"A killing cult?" Lu brushes her tattooed arm as she processes all of this. Is stopping this the real reason she was released? "Of course, I understand. Can we see the calling card?"

"It isn't a literal card. Recent victims have been defaced by vile carvings rent into their flesh. The Fist's resident religious expert has identified these markings as belonging to the Dead Three's iconography. The bodies are quite gruesome, but if you think you can deduce something from the bodies we haven't I'm willing to allow you access to the mortuary they're being housed in."

I'm not in a position to turn down 200 gold. Even splitting it amongst us. I'm not sure how good I'll be in a fight, but okay.

"You misunderstand. 200 gold for each of you, totaling 1000 gold for your group of five. I want this job done quickly and well. I'm paying for both. I have two affirmations, may I have the rest of yours?"

[Estralita]

Lilith nodded. "Do we go now?"

[JNAProductions]

"It'd be better than dealing with this mess," Gloria says with a small gesture towards the crowds. "I will help stop these murders."

[Bobthewizard]

Sev

Sev is intrigued by this killing cult. Not the idea of stopping them, but of finding out how they get away with it. On theater hand, 200 gold and getting this Captain Zodge off our backs for a while would be worth fighting these things. Maybe we can kill them, collect the gold, and then take over their operation. He makes sure not to say the last part out loud.

"I think we can help take care of this problem. What is your one lead that you have? I bet with that, we can find these followers of Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul."

[Celticbear]

"Most excellent. Our lead is a contact currently staying at the Elfsong. Her name is Tarina. She's a petty criminal we've allowed to continue operating in exchange for her assistance in taking down bigger fish. Fish like the Dead Three cult. She claims to know where their hole is, but she's asking for a favor from us in return. See what she wants. If it's too much, then remind her she's operating only by the Fist's good graces. But- try not to get her killed. She's an asset I plan on using in the future," Zodge elaborates.

[Lentrax]

Lelaia smiles for the first time. Talk to a thief? That I can do. Anything else we need to know or can we go?

If Zodge dismisses them, Lelaia heads for the door.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Lu nods in response to Lelaia's excitement, but takes her up on her question. "Well, let's see, what else... What does Tarina look like?"

[Bobthewizard]

Sev

Sev is intrigued by this opportunity. He nods along to Lu's question,

"Yes. How will we know her? More importantly, what is this favor she requests. If it is something dangerous like fighting a dragon, we might not be interested, but if it's something simple, we would be willing to help."

[Celticbear]

"I have no idea what Tarina's little favor. At a guess she might ask for protection, her alliance with the Fist has made other unscrupulous characters wary of her. As for what she looks like, she's human, about a head shorter than me, brown hair, dark skin. If you need help finding her, you can talk to Alan, the owner of the Elfsong. He makes it his business to know everyone in his establishment," Zodge affirms.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Okay, I think that's all we need. If her favor is something we can do ourselves, we're authorized to do it, right? We don't need to come ask first?" Lu needs only the slightest hint of a nod to confirm that much. If Zodge instinctively says yes but then catches himself and tries to clarify, too bad for him. "Okay, great! Then, leave it to us!"

Lu lines up along with Lelaia, ready to go.

[Bobthewizard]

Sev

Sev thanks Captain Zodge for the information and the opportunity. He knows that having the Captain on our side could be useful later.

"We are on it, sir. You can count on us."

He leaves with the others, heading for the tavern.

[JNAProductions]

Gloria thinks about telling her commanding officer what she's thinking, but decides that she doesn't want to draw that much attention. And besides, if she starts shouting, she might not stop.

She goes with the others.