In which a bargain is struck, an imp birthed and the Cult Strikes Back . . . Book Two, Chapter 2.2 (session 50, 10 th May 2018) Flushed with victory the party spent the rest of the night of 12 th Ches liberating the treasures of the dragon’s lair and resting before returning to Altand to arrange assistance with portering the stuff back to the village. Meanwhile Jamna flew to Daggerford to acquire some pack horses, returning to Altand on 17 th Ches. Mads opened discussion with his Council patron asking for provision of some magical support and assistance in continuing to hunt down the cult and find the masks. His patron promised to do what they could but that such power was spread thin and /or in use. The 23 rd Ches saw our heroes back in Waterdeep and heading to Council on the 24 th . Here it was quickly agreed that the priority task was to pursue the rumours of the fallen Skyreach castle and see if the black mask (Rezmir) or even the white mask (Talis) could be located in the ruins – assuming the cult had not got there first. Use of the Farseer back at Castle Naergon was briefly considered until Naergon confirmed that the Desert of Anauroch was far beyond its range. Similarly use of the teleport facilities between castle and Lodge were discounted as flying direct would be faster. Donating 40,000gp to the Council for use in housing and feeding the many thousands of refugees flooding into the major cities of the Sword Coast, the party received some items of power that the Waterdhavian nobility had donated to the cause: a Ring of Lightning Resistance (Franz); an Eversmoking Bottle (Naergon); a Mantle of Spell Resistance (Augustus) and a Lantern of Revealing (Jamna). Re-equipped and rejuvenated the party once again mounted their hippogriffs and set off for Parnast, the last known port of Castle Skyreach high in the Greypeak Mountains overlooking the Black Road and the vast desolate desert of Anauroch. Before they left though, Mads asked Augustus for assistance, requesting that he cut open Mads stomach that was bulging and heaving strangely. In a welter of blood, a small red-skinned and winged devil emerged and clung to Mads – apparently this is his new familiar. Augustus recoiled from the spectacle, Mads slide into darkness seems to be escalating. . . Arriving mid-afternoon on 10 th Tarsakh, the party landed on the outskirts as the spied stealthy movement in the shadows of the buildings, suspicious they carefully moved forward only to be attacked by a huge green demon swing a massive greataxe that attacked Franz and then disappeared, quickly skulking cult warriors (dragonwings) emerged and rushed Jamna and Naergon. Augustus and Franz advanced down the street, again the demon popped in and attacked Augustus before disappearing again. Cultists rushed at Naergon but were dispatched by lightning bolt and sunbeam. Mads hunted down another cultist in a back alley, casting a cloud of darkness around himself, his devil eyes gleaming eerily through the inky blackness as his familiar imp turned invisible. Death stalks the streets of Parnast – whose will be discovered next week. No levels were gained this session: Naergon 11 th level Mads 10 th level Franz 10 th level Jamna 10 th level Augustus 10 th level XP earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP In-Game the session ended at 14:00 on 10 th Tarsakh 1485 DR as the heroes are ambushed on arrival in Parnast