Two days after the defeat of Aponavicius, Dierna Hillerchaun gathers a few of the heroes in Bladechapel Manor's war room. Elaryan is there, along with his head priest. Loki and Nor are also in attendance. Commander Hillerchaun explains that the loss of Aponavicius has struck a mighty blow to Deskari's armies. Without the marilith general directing their attacks, the demons are uncoordinated. Anestral City's forces are slowly gaining ground. However, Hillerchaun has an idea that will accelerate the mortals' victory. She asks the heroes to return to Aponavicius's lair and bring back the marilith's head. Carrying this trophy into battle with further demoralize Deskari's forces. Elaryan is quick to accept this quest, for his priests have been scattered since the loss of his church. The sorcerer realizes that the marilith's lair would serve as a useful congregation point for them. He sends his head priest out into the city to gather the rest of the flock. Nor and Loki agree to come along, but Nor asks what he should be prepared for. Elaryan and Loki assure him that all of the lair's guardians have been defeated. As they are standing up to leave, the earth trembles and the sky grows dark. Commander Hillerchaun advises them to go ahead-- she will investigate what this inauspicious omen means, and have the answer when they return. Nodding, Elaryan produces his pickled quasit and instructs his companions to stroke it slowly. As they do so, he begins to chant. As he finishes his incantation, the companions are transported to the entrance hall of Aponavicius's lair. Pyralisia, the corrupted phoenix known as the Rain of Embers, is waiting there. Suddenly, Loki and Elaryan remember that they did not defeat the stronghold's guardian. With a horrific screech, Pyralisia turns to face them. Loki rushes forward, rolling under the phoenix to strike at her underside. Simultaneously, Elaryan summons a prismatic wall to separate the party from Pyralisia-- but manages to trap Loki alone with the Rain of Embers. Alone with the mythic creature, Loki is quickly slain. Nor assumes gaseous form, then uses earthquake to collapse the entire stronghold. Both Pyralisia and the companions are buried beneath tons of rubble. Nor gathers what remains of his allies, then plane shifts back to the Prime Material Plane. Once they have returned to Bladechapel manor, they realize that Loki's situation is much more dire than they had originally realized. The halfling has been slain by a destruction spell, and can only be returned to life through the combination of a carefully-worded wish , followed by a resurrection spell. The heroes are forced to travel to Alushinyrra to find enough diamonds to even complete the ritual. Eventually, they resurrect their friend, and return to Anestral City. Hillerchaun is waiting for them. She explains that Iomedae's clerics have discovered the source of the trembling earth and darkening sky. With the loss of Aponavicius, Deskari has grown desperate. He now seeks to open the worldwound between the Abyss and the Prime permanently! The Demon Lord's greatest champion, Areelu Vorlesh, is even now preparing the final ritual to finish the job. The clerics estimate that the ritual will take five days to complete. Fortunately, the paladins have been studying the Lexicon of Pardox, and believe they know how to stop the ritual. Unfortunately, they do not have all the materials they need. One key component is something called the Nahyndrian chisel, which was used to open the Hellmouth under Talism City. Divinations have revealed that the chisel is kept as a bauble by the high priest of Deskari’s faith-- a woman known among the faithful as Mistress Anemora. Very little is known of this mysterious figure, for the church of Deskari is very decentralized organization-- cults exist in discrete cells that have little contact with each other. The cult believes that the Nahyndrian chisel’s use has passed, and its leader keeps it now as nothing more than a sacred relic. Mistress Anemora dwells somewhere within the walls of a demonic brothel called the Yearning House... known as the Cat House before the Hellmouth opened. Loki volunteers that he is familiar with the Cat House (having grown up in Talism City), and he can lead the party there. The heroes use wind walk to travel to Talism City. The capital of Talism lies partly in ruins, revealing what might have happened to Anestral City had its Hellmouth not been closed. A massive rift cuts its way across the land, having swallowed the west half of the city. The east half of the city still stands, but is teeming with demons. The party makes their way quickly to the brothel, avoiding Deskari's forces. Approaching the Yearning House, the heroes decide to use stealth and deception to infiltrate the structure. Loki disguises himself as an abnormally large, unusually sexy quasit. His friends hide as he slowly approaches the house of ill-repute. Everyone who played gains 50,000 XP
