Breaking Point in the Maw
The Veiled Vanguard face off against the Governor and three Horned Devil's in his office. They fall into a trap and find the last vestiges of their alliance fraying as they enter the Maw itself. Old allies come to surface, demanding a sacrifice to move forward with their journey.
The fight began with Silas summoning devils that immediately attacked, stabbing Diablo with necrotic pitchforks and hurling fireballs at Percy. Diablo unleashed a counterattack, while Emelyne hurled a Fireball that caught Silas in the blast. Flipping a switch, Silas triggered moving bookcases behind the party and fled through a portal into a purple-hued land of thunderstorms, with Sanasha in pursuit. Percy cast Beacon of Hope, though it quickly dropped when he was hit by a firebolt.
As the devils struck the group with demonic flames, a panicked Naoki fled through the portal to heal. Diablo dodged and deflected multiple strikes, kicking a devil's fork into its own head and sweeping its legs out to fold it. Emelyne stepped through the portal toward Sanasha and Silas, where Sanasha recklessly slashed at the governor, threatening his life unless he banished the devils. Percy sent a Sending message to the Kobold prison warden for help before following through the portal, leaving Diablo alone with the three devils. Naoki shot a frigid blast from his umbrella to cover Diablo, who closed the portal from the outside and escaped by diving out a window.
While fleeing, Diablo was sniped by a fireball and knocked unconscious, but he was picked up, tore his shirt off, and activated an ice Simulacrum via a Glyph of Warding. Meanwhile, Naoki attempted to cast Plane Shift to the mirror realm, but lacked the required spell focus. Realizing they were trapped in the Realm of Penance—the cleaners of the Maw that drain the energy of lost souls—Emelyne noted all its denizens were bad people, and Sanasha carved a double "V" into a rock. They watched a six-limbed gorilla-like Maw Creeper envelop a running man with serrated mandibles, killing him. Naoki communed with nature spirits, discovering only lost souls, scavengers, and the party existed in this artificial dimension.
Sanasha spotted a flicker of light above, and Naoki transformed into a hummingbird to fly toward the landmass, but strong winds turned him back. Annoyed by Emelyne's comments, Naoki polymorphed her into a giant eagle, grabbed her beak to shut her up, and rode along with Percy to investigate. Between two glowing purple landmasses made of flesh, Percy slashed the organic web, causing the ground to shake violently in pain as the flesh repaired itself. Sanasha harvested a piece of the flesh before flying back down, where she killed an approaching Maw Creeper by pushing a massive boulder onto it.
The party took a long rest under Emelyne’s Sanctuary. During sleep, Naoki heard Contras offering a deal alongside Zulkifli's voice, while Sanasha and Emelyne heard their respective mothers. The next day, Percy attempted to message Thaine via Sending, clumsily threatening him after mentioning the governor's office. Naoki polymorphed Sanasha into a giant quetzalcoatl to carry the party to a fleshy, Chinese-fingertrap-like tower. Inside, they found faces in the walls and Amoral Tamlish strung up by his limbs. A humanoid fly named Bill—a former guard from Cielnor transformed after his king killed the sun god—jumped out and explained that Tamlish could only be freed if replaced by another living host.
Emelyne floated up to study the spell, realizing the Oubliette held the plane's chaos together by constantly feeding on its prisoner. The party resolved to swap Tamlish with Bill, casting Hold Person on the fly as Emelyne dragged him up the fleshy stairs. Chaos erupted as Sanasha and Percy tried to stop Emelyne from making a sacrifice, while Naoki used Fey Step and tried to charm Percy. Pushing Percy down the stairs, Sanasha moved to sacrifice herself instead, but Naoki polymorphed her into a toad to buy time. Emelyne quickly locked Bill into the fleshy prison and freed the brittle, severely weakened Tamlish.
Thaine arrived through a portal at the critical moment. With Tamlish in her arms, a furious Sanasha glared at Emelyne and Naoki, while Thane calmed a heated Diablo before he could attack Naoki. They escaped through the portal back to their safehouse, with Emelyne and Naoki dismissing the conflict as a messiah complex. Thaine explained that the Realm of Penance was formed from the flesh of the god of chaos.
As they discussed bringing Tamlish to the College of Mages and rallying the Sunkeepers on the 4th level, a raven arrived with news: Governor Silas was utilizing an infernal army to defend himself while attempting to destroy the city's dam. Before they could finish planning their assault with the Sunkeepers and the Church of the Two Suns, the city's alarm bells began to blare.