Under the Mountain
The fiery beast under Mount Antares has been sending its minions to terrorize all the local villages, demanding we offer payment so it would allow us to live… At first we could satisfy it with simple gifts of livestock and gold but it has grown completely out of control. It demands payment in the unspeakable, but if we do not appease it, we all perish.
Please, help us.
The Village of Angelfell
Recap
Nelcë, Nyra, and Rosin find themselves dropping right into the fray after answering a quest notice to prevent a village from having to begin humanoid sacrifices for a growing fiery creature under the mountain. Rosin deftly dispatches large hellish wasps in tandem with Nelcë while Nyra focuses on a mountainous lava creature that tries to melt the items of her body with its intense heat-wave gaze. Rude.
After talking to local villagers it seems a small demon has been growing in size and appetite over the past few months and it recently graduated from demanding livestock to much more sinister requests. It used to come make its demands in person but lately has been sending minions to make demands and now, intimidate and threaten the villages.
Once learning the mountain where the sacrifices have been delivered is not so far off, they immediately head off to investigate. At the drop-off point await two demon-orcs with massive swords, however, like any good henchmen they seem to struggle to land a hit while our party deftly dodges and strikes back. Before they go down the demon-orcs manage to summon three fiery plate-armored guards who are much more capable with their flaming scimitars. It doesn’t matter, in the end, as our heroes strategically flank them to bring them down with ease.
All three party members are easily able to recognize the demon-orc tracks that lead through the mountain, passing creeks of magma before eventually needing to cross over a river on a creaky bridge. Rosin flies over on his broom, and Nelcë rocks it a bit too hard but Nyra is able to steady it before anyone falls into the magma below. As they approach a large cavern they begin shouting out taunts in different languages, resulting in angry shrieking from within. Inside… flying 30ft. about a lake of magma they see a large winged devil.
The fight begins as it casually throws a fireball between Nyra and Rosin. It soon becomes clear that it’s difficult to stay in close combat range due to the devil’s fearful aura and it has a huge reach. The fight is intense but Rosin deals a lot of damage while Nelcë offers healing and advantage. Nyra keeps finding herself angry and afraid as its fearful aura is overwhelming, and when it focuses fire on her with its fearsome bite, claw, mace, and tail, is (nearly?) bloodied in just one round of attacks. Just when it decides she is not a true threat and focuses on Rosin, Nyra finds her in and grapples it to the ground right out of the air! This forces it to use Hold Monster on her while it escapes to intimidate Nelcë, but between Rosin and Nelcë’s relentless attacks they manage to destroy it before it can do any more harm.
Nelcë is able to locate and mend a Rift, the group loots the lair, then returns to help the village who additionally rewards them with some of the protective, enhancing, and healing items they’d been trying to develop to handle the situation. All in all, a straightforward day’s work of slaying demons, devils, and twisted elementals.