Here we were now, alone in Lord Kyriel’s “Artifact Room”, looking at a huge bank-vault door. To open it, we would have to solve a puzzle… x layers of hell, y schools of magic, z elemental planes - together, we figured out the right numbers and saw the door open, accompanied by a 2-minute-timer. Inside were great treasures, among them glass cases with magic items in them. In one of them, we found the infiltrator’s key. After dispelling the alarm spell, we got the key, but were promptly locked inside the vault as the timer ran out.
Soon, guards came, but luckily we could convince them that a drunk Lord Kyriel had locked us inside the vault. They escorted us off the premises. Honestly, this went better than expected. On our way back to the tavern, Kaiya noticed that we were followed by a cultist. We ambushed him, tied him up and Posmet had him swallowed into the white sphere.
Later that night, Shan and Thoredim discussed the moralities of “the end justifies the means” in light of what happened today: Stealing an artifact from a possibly innocent family, sacrificing a defenseless cultist to…who knows what… At the same time, Posmet proposed to Kaiya to keep the Infiltrator’s Key in exchange for something valuable. While they talked about the price, Posmet’s Imp appeared and explained what the “Duke” wants for it from Kaiya: Either she could start a cult of Asmodeus or she would become a follower of him herself (i.e. taking one class of Warlock). Meanwhile, it came to light once more that Posmet really doesn’t know what his “price” is that he promised to Asmodeus, as he couldn’t read the contract. As for Kaiya, she said she would consider it.
Shan got a book on dragons from the library and wanted to give it to Thoredim, who instead proposed to him to teach him to read with it. Shan said he would consider it.
The next day, in Earl’s Tavern, we met Rea Nightshade and exchanged the White Dragonmask for the Key. Posmet immediately put them together, upon which both are gone with an immense icy blast. The cultist we previously had put in this sphere appeared again, frozen. Posmet promptly shattered him.
We decided that the next point on our agenda should be to acquire the green mask and orb. We went to the library to meet Elias to gather more information on both. He told us that the green orb is at the Tomb of a Wizard Diderius. In it is a Divination Pool, which, if you look into it, would tell you the future. To get there, we would have to go to the Serpent Hills, populated by the Yuan-Ti, a rather hostile people.
Elias offered to send us directly to the Misty Forest, considerably shortening our travel. After we finish our business at the Serpent Hills, he would pick us up from there to travel to the dragon council together. This gave us about two weeks, starting that day. He also warned us of the green dragon in the Misty Forest, called Chuth. As a preparation, we bought 7 potions of Acid Resistance and got ready for the trip…