Return to The Paragon Protocol
Overview: The Hellraisers descend into the 10th layer of the Hells, Hellmar, finding a corrupted and twisted mirror of the world they know. Pursued by the archdevil Curia, the third member of the Cloven Coven, the party seek allies in this ruined land and prepare for their finale confrontation with the Ordained.
Arrival in Hellmar[edit | edit source]
The Hellraisers after traveling through the portal in Malsheem emerge into Hellmarm and into the Hellmar version of Isounhound, a once lush fey continent that had been transformed into a land of twisted briar forests and bleeding earth. Lucky for the party, their druid Endine di Valpadana was a native to this land, and used their druidic magic to transport the party to their former home, a hideout for the druidic family, the Valpadana Rocco. The party arrive to find the remain of a massacre. Dina realizes that an old enemy of his, the archdevil witch Curia had continued her hunt of the Valpadana, and had managed to find her family. Investigating the sight, the party discovered that the surviving Valpadana had managed to flee to a secret haven in southern Isonhound called Pure Springs Grove. But the party also realized that with Dina's return to Hellmar, it wouldnt be long till Curia began to hunt them down. Traveling further, the party found another hideout of another druidic family, the Valpadana Madrasyr who has similarly been hunted down by Curia.
As the party continued their trek through the briar and thorn filled forests of Isonhound, they were suddenly ambushed by Curia and her hunters. As the third sister of the Cloven Coven, Curia wielded incredible arcane powers, and she was flanked by her pack of Hell Hounds as well as devil hunters. Unable to fight back, the party teleported to northern Isonhound and sought refuge in the ruined city of Saltport. When Quelmar was pulled into the Hells, massive infernal sea creatures emerged from the seas and destroyed the once quiet port city. The party was forced to navigate this dangerous landscape and managed to convince a massive horned crab to give them shelter in its lair.
Run As Fast As You Can[edit | edit source]
Knowing they couldn't hide out in Saltport forever and that they needed allies, the party decided to make the long journey to Pure Spring Grove. Using Dina's druidic magic, they were able to speed up the journey, but again, weren't fast enough to escape Curia and her hounds. The party, now better prepared, squared up to fight the archdevil. As he party battled though, Dina discovered that some of Curia's servants were actually her former friends whom Curia had previously captured, all now twisted and corrupted. After a long fought battle the party managed to subdue Dina's former friends and slay Curia, making sure she could no longer harm the good people of the Valpadana.
Clean Water[edit | edit source]
No longer hunted, the party were finally able to make it to Pure Spring Grove, a small preserved piece of old Isonhound with green grass, colorful flowers, and clean water, all preserved by a Naiad, a fey water spirit. Here the party meets Dina's adopted mother, Greenkeeper Garda, the former leader of the Valpadana Rocco, who was forced to flee to this grove along with other members of the Valpadana to escape Curia and her hunters. She embraces Dina, glad to see that her daughter is alive, and is introduced to the party. Greenkeeper Garda and Dina quickly get to tending to Dina's former friends, and begin the process of healing Curia's corruption.
The party are finally able to get some real rest, mingling with other survivors and sleeping on soft beds of flowers and grass. Nyrgoth gets scolded for smoking by the Naiad of the spring Ortylia, and the both enter into a friendly debate on if poisoning your body can be pleasurable. When Nyrgoth then goes to attempt to get some sleep, their rest is interrupted by Ratatrosk, who questions Nyr on why they want the Abyss to return.
Aliria Servine attempts to perform a ritual to contact Grandmother Theresa and Mackrea of the Cloven Coven for guidance, but accidentally instead summons the corpse of Curia. To prevent any potential reanimation or resurrections, Dina performs a druid ritual on Curia's corpse to destroy it.
Aivan explores the grove and encounters a Tiefling survivor who introduces themselves as Azrael. Azrael reveals that he was a former member of Asmodeus' court in the citadel of Kashtar-Val, until Asmodeus disappeared after the River Styx dried up. Azrael reveals that after Asmodeus disappeared, he released control over the Ruby Rod, letting it rest above Kashtar-Val like a shining red star. None have yet to be able to claim its power, though many have tried, including Asmodeus' daughter, Glasya. Though Azrael does share that Glasya and the Ordained have managed to claim the citadel of Kashtar-Val itself.
The next day, the party confront another of the survivors, a troll bearing the symbol of the Shattered Mountain. The troll reveals that their name if Grundel, and that they along with many other giants had left the Cult of the Shattered Mountain, including the Cloud Giant member of the Ordained, Stratia Nimbus. Grundel shares that after allying with Glasya, the cults's leader, the Storm Giant Thrya Stormbreaker, stopped hearing the voice of the Shattered Mountain, and as a result her actions became more desperate and manic. Grundel says Stratia and her followers broke away from Thrya, believing that allying with devils like Glasya went against their mission and that their recent actions stood in the face of what the Shattered Mountain represented.