Varien found himself blinking into existence in the middle of a corridor of crystals, some ice-blue, some furnace-red. A vast, twisting cavern lay before him, interspersed with sections of worked-crystal floor and twisting stairways carved directly into the angular aggregations. Around him was a very odd contrast of heat and utter cold. There was an unnatural split between what his eyes told him and what he could feel in his bones as he stood in the tunnel. Some of the crystal and ice under his feet was ordered, but there were also signs of great chaos beneath the surfaces of the crystalline protrusions that grew haphazardly in all directions. Networks of superheated crystals appeared to have been laid over the glowing blue-white crystalline clusters that broke up the ruined walkway before him. “Fiendsbane,” Varien said carefully to his magical sword. “Where are we?” Fiendsbane began to vibrate in his hand. I have never been here before, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that we are in a world between worlds, a plane between planes, a conduit to the Nine Hells, but also…not. Fiendsbane’s vibrations increased. What is that sound? In the air, ringing like a sustained note unwillingly coaxed from a petrified opera singer, was the reverberating remains of an anguished scream, a sound of agony. “If I had to hazard a guess,” Varien whispered to Fiendsbane, “I’d say that was our quarry.” Chaos reigned in the temple baths. Half-naked Sunite acolytes shrieked and swam for their lives as the great Elk majestically splashed from one end of the shallow pool to the other, antlers still smouldering as Elkwen’s sudden appearance caused mayhem in the bathhouse. A harpist broke half of the strings on her harp as she dodged out of the way of the approaching elk. Bob struggled to keep the unconscious Celia’s head out of the waters. The paladin’s long blonde hair had been almost completely burned away by the attacker’s flame-trap. Bob retrieved a small vial of evergold and dabbed it gingerly on her scorched skin, trying to restore some of her porcelain complexion. In response to the shouts of alarm, Iseriasha Darkeyes appeared at the entrance of the bathhouse, a look of confusion on her face. She was flanked by a pair of Sunite guards. “What is all this commotion?” she called, wading into the pool, heedless of the waters on her diaphanous robes, which soon clung to every curve. She raised a hand to her mouth in alarm as she saw Celia’s prone form in the water. “Oh! My Sister, my Sister Celia! What has happened?” Bob began barking orders. “We need a healer! We need a soothing balm! We need all the aloe vera you have on hand, right now!” In response to Bob’s assertiveness, Iseriasha made a sharp cutting gesture with her hand. “Of course, we can handle this. Thank you for your service, Brother.” She snapped her fingers and a pair of seminude acolytes obediently splashed into the waters and swam to Celia’s side. “Quickly, girls! Take Celia to the Chamber of Rejuvenation immediately! We shall minister to her under the very eyes of Sune herself.” Elkwen splashed forward and scooped the three women up in his antlers, looking damn fine while doing so. Iseriasha strode purposefully out of the waters, her robes fully transparent. One of the acolytes traced the length of one of Elkwen’s antlers. “Oooh, how delightfully firm!” she exclaimed. Elkwen blushed. Iseriasha led the giant elk and its precious cargo out the door, as Dhaera Darklight rushed in. She made her way over to Bob. “What happened?” “We never made it to the House of Crystal,” Bob said darkly. “We were waylaid in Manycats Alley.” “Oh, dear!” Dhaera said. Bob rolled his eyes. Elkwen transported Celia and the acolytes up a wide set of curved stairs, following Iseriasha’s shapely form to the Chamber of Rejuvenation, where a pair of wide doors with top-to-bottom relief carvings of pleasurable activities blocked his path. The acolytes expertly fashioned a sort of sling-stretcher from their garments and Elkwen gently lowered Celia into it. Iseriasha gave the giant elk’s flank a gentle pat. “Thank you for your service, friend. However, as you are not a member of Sune’s clergy, you cannot accompany us into the Chamber of Rejuvenation. Rest assured our beloved Celia will be healed of her injuries and cleansed of these terrible…impurities,” she said, running a hand over Celia’s scarred and puckered skin. One of the acolytes was openly weeping as she struggled to remove the paladin’s armor plates without causing pain to the unconscious Celia. The intense heat had all but welded the steel to the paladin’s body. Elkwen snorted, nuzzled Iseriasha, and trotted smartly back the way he came. Alec, Siegfried, and Theryn exited Thort’s Findings. Siegfried observed that the hour was growing late; afternoon would soon give way to evening. “Time to contact our friends,” he said, thinking that he would send a dinner invitation to Varien. He cast sending . "You guys finished with your church stuff yet? You're all invited to dinner at my place, come on over." Varien suddenly received Siegfried’s incoming message and was able to quickly compose a reply: No, attacked in Manycats. I followed through into hells, betwixt fields of glass and fire. Unsure where the others are. They desire the crystal panes. Siegfried’s countenance changed 180 degrees, as did his orientation as he spun about and rushed back inside Thort’s Findings, leaving a confused Alec and Theryn standing in the shadow cast by the fallen statue’s head. “Thort!” Siegfried leaned against the counter with both arms and fixed the proprietor with an imploring expression. “I need tuning forks; one for the Material Plane and one for the Nine Hells.” Thort began to chuckle until he realized that Siegfried was serious. “Please!” Siegfried. “A friend’s life hangs in the balance!” “That sort of item might take me a while to procure,” Thort protested. “I can’t just snap my fingers and make things just materialize out of thin air, you know!” The animated suit of armour shook his helm, as though Thort was capable of doing just that. Siegfried’s mind was going a mile a minute in an attempt to explore his options. He cast a sending spell to Bob. “Are you okay? What happened in Manycats? Varien is on his way to hell!” Varien took another appraising look at his surroundings. “Well, the ice is sort of comforting,” he said to Fiendsbane. “This magma and basalt, less so.” It would appear, Fiendsbane replied, as though the hot crystals are being fed from an unseen source, and transporting that energy to another destination, like an infernal pipeline. “I absolutely do not find the idea of an infernal pipeline to be comforting,” Varien declared. Siegfried thought for a moment about infernal laws and legal strategies and the limits of his family’s involvements with their legal retainers and reeled off another sending spell to Wolfram. “My paladin was abducted by extraplanar infernals and is being taken South. Introduce me to one capable of fixing this.” Wolfram’s reply was dripping in syrupy concern. “How interesting. I will make what inquiries I can, young Thann. The cost, however, might be more than you are able to pay." Siegfried spoke aloud with grim determination. “I shall pay it, and pay it gladly, without regret,” thinking of his mother and what he could do with her soul given the right conditions. “Wait, pay what for whom?” Theryn asked. “Need some context here, Siegfried.” “Not now, Theryn,” Siegfried said. “Now, which temples in Waterdeep might be open to facilitating a field trip down the River Styx?” he said to himself. “Wait, what?” Theryn said. “Listen, Bob is hurt, Erwen might be as well, but we need to get over to the Sunites to see about rescuing Varien. I’m going to talk to mother.” “Alone?” Theryn asked. “Last time you did that you almost died.” “Well, now I know that I have something to threaten her with,” Siegfried said. “I didn’t have that before.” Dhaera Darklight was pelting Bob with questions about what transpired in Manycats Alley. “What happened to Celia? What happened to the crystal panes?” Elkwen looked around. “Why am I taking all this on? I’m just an elk with creepy kids on my mind.” “We were ambushed in a glass maze!” Elkwen bellowed. “Yup,” Bob agreed. “What he said.” “Celia was sent to protect you,” Dhaera said. “Could you not protect her?” “Celia was taken out of the fight almost immediately,” Elkwen said diplomatically. “But she did the protecting, and got a little banged up along the way.” “She was overwhelmed by all the bad people, but we did our best to keep her alive and out of there,” Bob argued. That seemed to satisfy Dhaera. “So you did not visit the House of Crystal?” “We did not get there, no,” Bob said. “And where is Brother Varien?” Dhaera asked. “Okay, listen,” Elkwen said. “About that,” Bob said. “We were on our way to Manycats Alley, we entered Manycats Alley and we were no longer where we thought we were. We were ambushed by crystal folk and now Varien is lost in another dimension, another plane,” Elkwen said. “That’s our best guess.” “Yeah,” Bob agreed. “How unfortunate,” Dhaera said. “I trust he looked dashing as he did so?” “That’s debatable,” Elkwen said. “May the Lady Firehair look after him and gather her remains to her bosom,” Dhaera breathed. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine with his demon sword,” Bob said. Dhaera frowned. “That’s why I don’t sign up for field excursion. Too dangerous.” “Are you familiar with these crystal folks?” Elkwen asked. “Describe them to me,” Dhaera said. “Their leader has scars all over her face. Ritual scars.” “How horrid.” “That’s the best look I could get,” Elkwen said. “To be honest, I was a cat and wanted to smash things up.” “Well, I’ve never heard of such a group,” Dhaera admitted. “Well, our handsome friend needs rescuing,” Elkwen said. “If we want to get him back in one piece, we should probably act fast.” “I shall light a candle for Brother Aether, and pray,” Dhaera said, bowing her head. “None of this lighting a candle business,” Elkwen brayed. “We need tuning forks!” He knew that the longer this situation dragged on, the longer he would have to spend inside the city. He wanted to relax in a forest as soon as possible. “We will do what we can,” Dhaera said, chastened. “And what’s that?” Elkwen asked. “I will meditate and research,” Dhaera said. “Do you have a place where I can rest quickly?” Elkwen asked. He knew that it would take time to prepare his plane shift spell. Getting a planar fork attuned to their destination would be the more difficult part. “Bob, did the others mention where they were headed?” Elkwen asked. “Last I remember, they were going shopping,” Bob said. He responded to Siegfried’s sending spell. “We are alive. Varien is halfway to hell. Come quickly to the Temple of Beauty.” “This is no help – we need to collect our friends,” Elkwen said. Siegfried nodded as he received Bob’s reply. “Quickly, comrades. We must rejoin our friends at the Temple of Beauty.” Theryn and Alec saw no reason to disagree. The trio left Thort’s Findings. Something sharp struck Siegfried in the neck. “Theryn,” he said in a calm but urgent voice. “Why didn’t you attune to that dagger of warning?” “Who has the time when you’re walking in and out of the same magic shop over and over?” Theryn replied. “Why, did you just get darted?” “You tell me,” Siegfried said, craning his neck. “Is it bad? I’m taking fire here!” Theryn could see that a small paper crane had lodged itself in his companion’s neck. “That’s impressive,” Theryn said. “I didn’t know that paper cranes could fly that fast.” Theryn gingerly removed the folded paper crane from its landing place and examined it. There were no markings on the exterior, but try and he might, he was unable to unfold it. “Give it here,” Siegfried asked of Theryn. He quickly unfolded the paper bird and read the words that suddenly blossomed across the parchment in familiar, utilitarian handwriting: The Lady Hawkwinter has accepted Wolfram’s overture and is expecting you to arrive at her villa at sunset this eve. I’ve laid out your best formal wear at Sweetsong House. Do remember your lessons and tread carefully. The proper forms must be observed. C. “Cauldar,” Siegfried said under his breath. He quickly used mask of any faces to change into formal attire. “I have a date tonight, friends, but this could work to our advantage.” He knew Lady Harianna Hawkwinter was a Knight Champion of Helm and member in good standing in the Order of the Gauntlet, and told his friends as much. “So, you’re saying that I have something in common with this woman?” Alec said. “Erwen also has something in common with this woman,” Siegfried said. “He murdered her brother, Sterling. If there were devils to rebuff, that might be the sort of evening she might not soon forget.” “You sound like you know how to show a woman a good time,” Theryn said, eyes wide. “I’m thinking of inviting her along on our little escapade,” Siegfried said. He cast another sending spell. “Found a lovely little place where glass infernals are kidnapping clergy in Manycats Alley. Bring that sword that I like.” Lady Hawkwinter’s reply was swift. “That isn’t exactly what I had in mind, but that far exceeds my expectations, Siegfried. Wear that scarf I like.” Siegfried’s scarf grew longer and redder. “Hope you don’t mind boys if I bring a date to hell,” Siegfried said to his friends. On their way to the Temple of Beauty, Siegfried stopped at a street vendor and purchased an extravagant bouquet, and detoured to one of Waterdeep’s finer chocolatiers for a box of the finest bonbons. “Now Soon the trio was at the Temple of Beauty. Siegfried stormed past the velvet ropes at the front entrance and corralled the first acolytes he could see. “You there! I am about to go on a date with an exceptional lady, I need you to prepare for me something beautiful, and the fate of the world rests upon it being the most important date, or we shall lose a paladin of Sune forever! This endeavour is critical to the rescue of Sune’s Chosen Champion – you have ten minutes, go!” The acolytes blanched and rushed to the artisanry. “Make it extra pretty!” he shouted after them. “You’re doing a truly important service to Sune and it’s vital that you achieve it! It’s the most important thing you’ll ever do in your life!” “What’s all this commotion, pilgrims?” Iseriasha Darkeyes glided out from an antechamber as the acolytes scurried past, eager to comply with this brash half-orc interloper. “Priestess!” Siegfried pointed an accusatory finger at the approaching High Exultant, and summoned the highest of high dudgeons and he laid into her. “A paladin of Sune brings unto you a holy relic of Lady Firehair, and a warning from your goddess that a rot has set in within your diocese, and not an hour later he is beset on all sides by marauding cultists intent on stealing said relic. That means you are either complicit, or you are an incompetent or careless caretaker. Now, which is it?” He shouted. “Cool glasswork!” Theryn said, staring at the massive stained-glass windows lining the sanctuary hallways. “Either you are a hellish conspirator who has sold out her deity to darkness, or a careless caretaker who has allowed a spy into your midst!” Siegfried repeated. “I’m sorry, but you seem troubled,” Iseriasha said in an unctuous voice. “This is a temple of beauty my friend. Perhaps we can soothe your countenance and ensure that we can have a civil discussion.” Beneath her pleasant façade, however, Siegfried knew that he had rattled her. He immediately switched tracks to full pleasant mode. “I know, darling, I’m merely doing my due diligence in helping my friends.” “And I’m sorry, but you are?” Iseriasha asked. “I am Caretaker and Protector of Sune’s Eyes and Rose, Varien Aether and Bob Trevelyan,” Siegfried said. “This is Bob’s older brother Alec, and friend companion Theryn Hellvalor.” Iseriasha’s eyes sparkled with recognition. “Ah, that is a lovely self-appointed title you wear. I will have to make a note of that. As for your companions, Brother Trevelyan is undergoing some respite after a rather troubling encounter. I would be happy to take you directly to our temple baths if you’ll please follow me.” With a swish of her gown, she turned and strode away. Alec smiled approvingly at Iseriasha’s retreating backside. The trio followed her swinging hips down the stairs.