26 - 3/21/22 : Heresy
In-game Date: 25th of Freyrmond, 3521
"I made a promise... I am not dying in this forsaken place." - Reilly Springs
Renaer rejoined the party, having spent the night with Bonziel Ramrider in an impromptu bout of passion. He recalled their night together; while lying together after the act, Bonziel had cited hedonism as her coping mechanism in times of grief, and apologized for dragging Renaer into an emotionally confusing situation. Renaer assured her that he was fine, and that it was his first shot at romance where the end goal wasn't to impress his mother with his mate of choice. Bonziel recalled similar experiences with her mother, and the two bonded over their love of independence for a time before Renaer suddenly remembered that the party would be meeting up to discuss their next move.
Rejoining the party once more was Lackadaisical, who had been spending most of her time handling Troll Skull Manor's financial affairs in its first few weeks and taking on shady legal cases in her spare hours. Having grown in her magical powers, her presence was welcomed by her friends.
With Vincent's information on hand, the Red Spirits took stock of their supplies and equipment before making their way to the City of the Dead in the cover of night. Scaling the walls of the district was a simple task thanks to Róisín, and the party soon found themselves looking at the sea of driftglobes illuminating the large cemetery. The party stealthily dropped in and avoided the wandering undead as they searched for the Cassalanter family crypt.
Renaer glimpsed the Brandath family crypt, where his mother and her family were interred. He made note of it as they continued onward. Soon they found the resting place of House Cassalanter and warily entered after Reilly cracked the lock on the heavy stone doors.
As the party crept through the mausoleum's entrance, torches lit themselves as if to pave the way further to a staircase. Descending this stairway brought them to the crypt's deepest reaches; an elaborate two-floor dark cathedral to Asmodeus, overlooked by two balconies. Nearby was a set of prison cells, empty but clearly designed to hold people packed into tight quarters like mere cattle.
The party split in two, with Lackie, Yilani, and Reilly remaining on the balcony while Brooke, Eula, and Renaer descended the stairs. In a side-passage, the latter three discovered the oldest parts of the tomb abandoned to time. Within waited the ghost of Caladorn Cassalanter, a lord of the Cassalanter family from times past when the family was honorable and just. He begged for the party to redeem his house's honor, and bade them use his enchanted plate armor and mace of disruption to destroy the altar to Asmodeus.
With their preparations complete, the half of the party on the ground burst through the doors and attacked the Cassalanters and their cultist minions, with Eula leading the charge. Victoro Cassalanter briefly stopped her in her tracks with a spell of domination, but she was able to break free as the rest of the Red Spirits joined the fray.
In a show of infernal might, Lackie summoned a mighty tanarukk from the abyss to serve her. The request was an easy one; as a denizen of the abyss and a belligerent of the eternal Blood War, the tanarukk was ecstatic to fight against the forces of Baator in any capacity.
The party focused their efforts in keeping Victoro and Amalia separated, though the abundance of Asmodean cultists complicated this. Eventually, Amalia was backed into a corner and attempted to escape from her assailants by way of invisibility; she was pursued by Yilani and Brooke, with the latter managing to fatally stab her with his rapier. As she fell, Amalia's body was seized and dragged down into the earth by fiendish hands.
The death of his beloved drove Victoro into a burning rage. He immediately attempted to outright kill Reilly and disorient the others with a powerful divine word, but the party's resolve steeled them against the painful sounds of creation. Victoro then summoned Osvaldo, his and Amalia's eldest son whom had been turned into a chain devil by his parents' oaths to Asmodeus. Finally, after the Red Spirits fought back bravely against the turning tide, Victoro raised his rod of rulership and attempted to enthrall his opponents and subdue them.
Reilly, Yilani, and Brooke managed to overcome the rod's dominating presence, and Renaer was aided in doing the same by Reilly's encouragement. However, Eula and Lackie fell to Victoro's influence, and they turned against the party to protect their new master.
Eula quickly dispatched the rampaging Tanarukk, and then began to approach her companions with blade drawn. With the myriad cultists surrounding Reilly and Yilani, and all of the party beleaguered by the brutal fight, things began to look grim...Portraits
The Red Spirits
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