The Chronicles of Baator

Here is the door to hell. Specifically, The Helldoor. No, it doesn’t actually lead to hell; It’s just the name of a tavern, and not a very good one at that. Inside, the bartender wipes down a freshly washed mug.

Here is a mug of beer. Elro Iolite takes a swig from the mug in front of him. He looks towards the other travelers that have banded together with him over the past little while, resting in The Helldoor. A bloodthirsty goblin pokes at a customer and jeers at the barmaids. A half-elf glares at some of the demons in the room. A young Tabaxi shows off a card trick to the customers who will watch. Another Genasi, like him, stands off to the side, casually twirling her dagger. The knife dances gracefully between Griselda’s fingers. Elro takes out a small top and gives it a twirl.
> Maybe you’re right… he mumbles.
Elro takes another swig of beer.

Here is the Prince of Stygia. Known simply as Prince Levistus, normally, he would be sitting atop his throne, issuing orders. But not at the moment. At the moment, Prince Levistus was running down his castle’s halls, fighting ringing out behind him. He turns a corner, then another. He wasn’t going down here, not like this. He bursts out through a side door of his castle, and one thing fills his vision. A giant, flying, ice castle.

Here is the Joker. Epsilon Sagittarii, the Tabaxi in the tavern, shows the card to everyone in front of him, and puts it at the top of the deck, face down. He waves his hand over the deck. With a flick of his fingers, the Joker is pushed off the deck and into his sleeves, and nobody is the wiser. He grabs the top card, no longer the Joker, about to turn it over.
At that exact moment, Elro puts the empty mug down on the table in front of him.
At the same time Elro’s mug lands with a dull thump on the wooden tabletop, Griselda finishes twirling the dagger, and grabs it with her hand, stopping it.
Exactly when Epsilon flips over the card, revealing the five of hearts, a crash shakes the Helldoor and an Imp bursts through the doors to the tavern, taking everyone’s attention.
> The humans, he screams, clutching a wound on his side. They’re-
But he doesn’t get to finish that thought. A steel arrow, about the width of a fingernail and about the length of Elro’s forearms enter the back of the Imp’s head, and with a staggering amount of force, explodes out the front of his face.
And at the exact moment the Imp’s mostly shattered head hits the wooden floor with a wet thump, Prince Levistus and his guards lock swords with Stygia’s invaders.

Finally, here is the flying castle. Made out of ice, inside sits the archdevil, the leader of the rebellion, the invader, Mephistopheles. He smiles, watching arrows and troops rain down on the district of Stygia. He nods. Stygia is the first step in getting himself home.

> W-what just happened? I was just-
Epsilon looks around as everyone who was watching the Joker trick stream out the door, weapons in hand. He groans in frustration, and slips the Joker from his sleeve back into the deck of cards. He gives the five of hearts a little spin before slipping it and all the cards back into its sleeve. As he does this, the tavern door swings shut behind the leaving crowd, and Griselda slips her knife into her belt. She goes towards a window and cracks open the curtain ever so slightly, peeking outside. Arrows are raining down from the sky. An army of frost devils are slaughtering everyone in their path.
>They’re killing humanoids, Griselda says nonchalantly. Humanoids like us.
>Then we gotta hide, Epsilon replies.
One of the barmaids nods, seemingly in agreement.
>You should hide, and fast, she says. They’re after people like you.

Outside Castle Levistus, the Prince locks swords with someone he hoped he’d never see.
>You, the Prince sneers. Why are you doing this?
The devil opposite him smiles.
>You know why, my friend.
Levistus extends a finger, signalling what’s left of his guard, and lets his sword swing away from him in a graceful loop, parrying his adversary’s strike. Then jumping back, he removes himself from reach while his guards try to keep the devil occupied.
>The King will not be pleased, Levistus says, running his sword through one of the invaders. He will have your head, Mephistopheles.
The devil, Mephistopheles, cuts through Levistus’ guards with ease, not a drop of sweat on his brow. He grins, face to face yet again with the Prince.
>Not unless I have his first.

As the Prince once again barely blocks a blow from Mephistopheles, another figure throws open the doors to the Helldoor Tavern once more. A mysterious figure in a long, black, flowing cloak.
>And who are you? The half-elf, who has said little up until now, asks. State your name and business.
The figure does no such thing, and in fact, the cloaked figure approaches an old woman at the side of the bar, one of the few people who didn’t leave the bar.
>You assholes know each other? The cantankerous Goblin yells.
Elro squints, standing near the back of the room. As his companions grill the newcomer to no avail, he simply takes his top and spins it on the countertop. It clatters to a stop, and facing up is the face of a corpse.
>Bad omens, he mumbles, seemingly to the top. You don’t think well of this new presence, do you?

Epsilon is standing closer to the cloaked figure and the old woman, and he’s able to hear their hushed conversation. He flips the deck of cards over in his hand and listens in.
> They’re interesting, but we do not have the time right now, the figure in the cloak says. It is time in fact, for us to go.
> Yes milord, the old woman replies. And with that, the woman reaches into her pocket and pulls out an amulet. Patterned with runes and glowing an otherworldly blue, both the woman and the cloaked figure grab the amulet, and then suddenly, they’re gone. In the blink of an eye, right into thin air.

Epsilon sort of wishes he got a closer look at that amulet. Not because he would have stopped them, or because he was trying to figure out who they were, oh no. Epsilon Sagittarii is drawn to magical trinkets, big and small. It was his passion - no, his *purpose* - to learn all that he could. It was half the reason he was stuck in the kingdom of Baator in the first place
~~
~2.5 Years Ago, Navigator’s Log~
The Sagittarius is setting sail, off on a multi-year sea voyage. As the appointed navigator, it is my sworn duty to make sure the captain and crew get to their destinations safely. As such, I will be keeping this log. Perhaps it will serve as a record of our travails on the open seas. This quest will be dangerous, so I questioned Captain Rukbat on why he would bring his children along, but his response baffled me. It was, in reality, for his children that this voyage is taking place. They are to become men on this journey, travelling to where nobody had travelled before, bringing back troves of knowledge to the country’s people. I would be leaving out the truth if I did not say I took on this job to see more of the world myself.
Yet the sons, especially the youngest, is much too inexperienced, and much too - shall I say - cowardly to be able to make their way around the world. I must teach them the ways of adventuring if they are to succeed. I suppose I have given myself yet another job, but I feel as if I must keep them safe. Our first stop is a small group of islands to the east.
~~