Episode 4

This is Episode 4 of Hell's Belles. This episode was released in two parts.

The Party
DM Mazz

(Shauna) Levity - Tiefling Monk

(Chloe Christine) Lyra - Tiefling Paladin

(Hadeel) Miga - Tiefling Rogue

(Lysa Chen) Mercy - Tiefling Shadow Sorcerer

(TK Johnson) Gille - Tiefling Paladin

(Kayla) Pentar - Tiefling Druid

Excelsior
Last time, the group's modron buddy S3-4N walked through a portal with the modron march. The heroes follow through and emerge in a gate town called Excelsior. The buildings are made of gleaming white stone and in the center of the town, there are towers that rise up twice as high as any other building. The street is paved with bright marble.

Durge isn't here. She's handling pamphlets out somewhere.

Each gate town has a portal to the corresponding outer plane. The gate towns are always in danger of getting pulled in to the plane they are nearest to.

Miga catches up to S3-4N. He's clicking and beeping, trying to talk to another modron.

A knight asks Miga what she is doing with that modron. Miga explains that, "He's my best friend in the whole planes." The knight says that maybe she can help him.

The knight explains that there's a group has been abducting modrons and is attaching modron parts to people. The knight's sister has been captured by these villains, who are known as the Knights of Tachyrym.

The march is spreading out into clumps. The knight has been observing it and taking notes on its size and route. The knight wants the group to accompany and protect the marching modrons from the knights of tachyrym.

The group agrees to do so. The knight explains that the bad guys are a cabal of soul-less warriors and sorcerers interested in selfish gain.

Mercy does her best to disguise herself as a modron. Pentar assumes the form of a filthy boar.

On one side of the march is Lyra, Miga, and Pentar. On the other side is Gille, Mercy, and Levity.

Lyra summons a horse-sized mastiff as a mount. Gille relies on his family's holy symbol - the yklwa - to determine what his mount is. It's a black-furred llama with a silk cushion on its back. It has a happy, derpy face and its tongue is hanging out.

Modron Abduction
Night rolls in and creatures emerge from the forest. There are riders accompanied by some kind of shadow wolves.

Levity snatches the tabard of one of the invaders. Pentar recognizes the symbol - it's similar to an organization that had captured her at one point. This tabard has a flower symbol on it. Pentar's captors had a mushroom.

The group tracks the bad guys to their compound. Levity casts disguise self to look like a guard. Mercy retains her modron form.

S3-4N is sitting. He's got his back to the compound. He won't look at it. He asks, "Miga 2, what is fear?"

Levity approaches the compound and knocks on the door. They let her in. As she enters, she smells a mix of chemicals, metal, and rotting meat. She can see vats with bubbling liquids and hears bizarre screams - it's a modron screaming.

The floor under her feet crunches. The floor is littered with gears and springs along with black stains - modron blood.

Levity sees modrons hanging from hooks and tables with cutting implements. Modron wings and limbs are scattered about. There are several workers at one table sawing the leg off of a duodrone.

They explore the building a bit. Levity is very bothered by the suffering.

Meanwhile, the group creeps upstairs and listens at a bunch of doors.

At a desk is a bariaur woman muttering to herself. She's writing in a book. Pentar questions the bariaur. She tries to explain the purpose of the experiments and dismisses the pain of the modrons.

The group learns that the leader of this group is named Sithetus. He is a dustman who went back to the mortuary. He should be back soon.

Miga made a drawing in crayon of her and S3-4N. The group loves it and freaks out.

Levity lets the rest of the group in, telling the knights of tachyrym that these are mercenaries. She makes a deception check and gets a 21. The knights buy it.

S3-4N walks into the building and is horrified. He starts shaking. Miga starts screaming in terror.

Upstairs, Mercy threatens the bariaur and says that the screaming sound is the knights dying. Mercy wants to know what they're researching. The tachyrym are trying to make a powerful hybrid army. There are other bases like this out there, including an especially prominent one in the plane of Gehenna.

Gille approaches a large vat. He kicks it and a wave of acid spills out as it tips over. It dissolves the skin of a worker, and a bench is destroyed. Other workers flee.

Guards shout, sounding an alarm. Mayhem and panic ensue.

The group hates this place and wants to destroy it. Gille yells, "Justice!" Levity stabs one of them, and the guard flees.

As people flee the building in chaos, Gille dumps oil everywhere, backs toward the door and sets the place on fire.

The group stands and watches the building burn. They hear small explosions from inside. In the distance, they see some raiders in the distance returning from an expedition.

The heroes decide they'd best leave and rejoin the march.