Status Quo Infernus
Raphane and Dammon spent a very productive and very busy couple tendays coming and going, using the gateways to and from the House of Hope to get wherever they needed to go in order to procure the ingredients necessary for the coolant to stabilize Karlach's engine for its trip the material plane and, ultimately, its safe removal.
Raphane did get a surprise at one point when visiting Dammon in Baldur's Gate to find Florrick with him waiting to speak to her. Florrick, now a grand duke of the city and commander of the Flaming Fist mercenaries, was, perhaps understandably, concerned about there being a gateway to the hells in the middle of the city for whose protection she was responsible. Before the end, Raphane, Florrick and Zevlor were all having a conversation about that gateway and arrived at an agreement.
The house in which Raphael had created the gate would be rigged with smokepowder explosives and watched by Florrick's agents. In the event of an Infernal incursion, the house would be summarily demolished.
Then Florrick offered an unexpected boon: ducal support for the Hellriders' mission in Avernus, including logistical provisions such as food and health potions and the services of the civic healers and the ducal forges. However, Florrick did make clear that the Flaming Fist would not be providing direct military support within Avernus itself. Florrick never said it directly, but Raphane was certain that Wyll's influence was the reason for this unexpected largesse.
With that situation handled, Raphane could turn her full attention back to helping Dammon help Karlach. She soon found that, as the more readily available ingredients were procured, the remaining ingredients on the list took longer to source and tended to require more travel time to get to them, meaning Raphane would sometimes be gone for days at a time; sometimes traveling with Dammon, other times going by herself so Dammon could focus on research and proofing his and the Gondians' hypotheses, in addition to his normal duties serving as the ducal forgemaster.
During those first few tendays, Raphane would usually return to the House to find Karlach waiting for her and eager to hear about where she had been and what she had seen. But, as the trips got longer, Karlach started working harder to find ways to occupy herself: helping to move crates of supplies, sparring with the Hellriders, teaching them everything she knew about devils and demons: their strengths, vulnerabilities, tactics and tricks; and, as needed, covering the return portal for the Hellriders and helping them to tend to their wounded after they returned from their missions. Rear guard wasn't a terribly exciting job. Zevlor kept strong discipline amongst his Hellriders and it was rare that even so much as an Imp made it through the portal.
Karlach got to know the Hellriders quickly. The most affable were Zosia and Eneco, a married tiefling couple. Both of them were paladins of Tyr, which had taken Karlach aback at first, but they turned out to be decent, friendly people and not masquerading Infernal bounty hunters like the last "Paladin of Tyr" Karlach had met.
There was another tiefling, Ilkin, cleric of Lathander, who wasn't quite so friendly. He wasn't rude so much as that his faith was so central to his life that he didn't seem to know how to even begin to relate to the irreligious Karlach. The one time Karlach attempted to open a dialog with him he tried to convert her. The conversation was as short as it was awkward and afterward Ilkin seemed to actively avoid Karlach.
Belmira, a human paladin of Helm, seemed to be Zevlor's lieutenant amongst the Hellriders. Karlach often saw the two of them together, the table in front of them covered in pilfered maps and documents as they strategized their campaign. Belmira seemed to have room for little else in life besides the campaign and her faith but wasn't nearly so uncomfortable as Ilkin around Karlach, valuing her insights and experience regarding devils, demons and how best to fight them.
Yssylt was the other human, a soft-spoken paladin. A quiet one, she seemed to spend most of her time reading.
Iskandar was the elven paladin. He was over four hundred years old and never let anyone forget, particularly when they were disagreeing with him or acting against his advice.
Odam was a cleric of Oghma. Curiosity seemed to be his greatest motivation. He almost always seemed to be relentlessly asking questions of someone and was keenly interested in Karlach and, more to the point, her engine; even being so bold during their first conversation as to ask if the engine had interfered with her menstruation and if he could have the engine should death or "the unforeseen'' happen to Karlach.
Gorrem, half-orc cleric of Tempus, was a kindred spirit: loud, boisterous and passionate, the first person Karlach had drank with for a while who could knock back just as many pints as she could and stay standing.
Each of the Hellriders was there to free Elturians still locked in Zariel's dungeons. Eneco and Zosia were more motivated than most. Karlach learned that their daughter had been missing since the tumult and chaos of Elturel's descent to Avernus. Odam had the additional dubious motivation of collecting Infernal gadgetry, an interest his fellow Hellriders begrudgingly tolerated.
Zevlor, of course, Karlach had known previously, and she was surprised to find him rather aloof when instead she had expected to see him glad to be amongst fellow Hellriders once more. He isolated himself more often than not, spending most of his time in his quarters planning the next move and only emerging only for meal times, strategy sessions, sparring practice and devotionals. Karlach attended just one of those devotionals, which had been enough to learn that religion still didn't terribly appeal to her.
Hope always seemed to be in motion, having made herself caretaker of the House of Hope. She insisted on doing the washing, cleaning and attending to the care of the place. Karlach even returned to her room at one point to find Hope making the bed. Karlach couldn't think of once having seen Hope sit down. It worried her seeing Hope running herself ragged but the dwarven woman stubbornly refused help when offered it and was apt to shoo anyone who tried to pitch in without asking.
Hope, the Hellriders, Karlach and Raphane weren't the only occupants of the House either. There was a constant, ever-so-slight vibration to the place as it quaked with the ceaseless tremors of the thousands of doomed souls who had been ensnared by Raphael's promises and, even after his death, remained trapped here. Hope did what she could to comfort those souls but, for them, there could be no release. Doing so would only second them to the next link in their chain of torment, and their agony would certainly be greater than the limbo in which they existed here.
From time to time, the residents of the House would hear these souls whisper, cry or scream. For Raphane, it came as a reminder never to see the House as a safe place, no matter how soft and luxurious it might seem. For Karlach, who needed no such reminder, it always came like a needle to the eye.
Most of the Hellriders took periodic trips to the material plane in order to shake off the House's malign influence, the only exception being Zevlor. Hope also kept to the House. Raphane, at one point, managed to convince Hope to step outside for a quick foray to Baldur's Gate. That trip lasted only until Hope saw the open sky and suffered a panic attack.
A month and a half had passed since Karlach had arrived at the House of Hope. Once again, she was standing guard at the portal in the great hall while the Hellriders were on one of their missions.
Yssylt was sitting a short distance away, reclined on the steps, reading. Her weapon leaned against the raised stage, ready to be snatched up at a moment's notice.
Zevlor's doctrine that he had developed for this campaign called for two of his number to be present in the House. Should anything go wrong, they would hold the portal and, if need be, buy time for Hope to seal it. Zevlor had every gratitude to Hope for letting him use the House as a staging area and her safety was paramount to his priorities. Thankfully, Karlach being available for guard duty freed up another Hellrider to join Zevlor.
Karlach fidgeted impatiently while she waited for the Hellriders' return. "Good book?" she asked Yssylt after a while.
"Mmm-hmm," was the answer.
"Good, good," said Karlach. Some seconds passed in silence before Karlach spoke again. "Not much of a reader myself. Too impatient I guess. Even in here. Time's about all I have but somehow that doesn't make it any easier to sit down and just read a bloody book."
Yssylt reluctantly raised her blue eyes to look at Karlach over the edge of the book as the berserker spoke.
"So what's it about?" asked Karlach.
"Do you want me to read it aloud?" Yssylt returned.
"Only if it's dirty."
There was a slight blush to Yssylt's cheeks and she swallowed her lower lip shyly.
Karlach's face broke into a grin, "Well aren't you a sly one?"
There was a subtle shift in the tone of the sound the portal put out, one that anyone who spent time guarding these portals came to recognize as indication that there was an incoming traveler.
Ysslyt was by Karlach's side, weapon ready, in the space of a breath.
Zosia, the blue-skinned tiefling woman, was the first through the portal. Her mail was covered in crimson and black blood, none of it her own. Her shield was still strapped to her arm but her weapon hand and scabbard were both empty. Karlach only caught a glimpse of the paladin's face as she quickly pushed past but it was enough to see that it was drenched in tears.
The portal flared again and more of the Hellriders came through, all of them looking worn and blooded: Iskandar, Belmira, Odam, Ilkin, Gorrem and finally Zevlor. The portal closed.
Karlach blinked worriedly.
"Where's Eneco?" asked Yssylt.
Zevlor shook his head.
"Fucking cambion disintegrated him!" shouted Gorrem. The half-orc was breathing hard. "Not even a body to bring back."
"Tend to your wounds," Zevlor told his squad. "I'll check on Zosia."
It was about two hours later when Karlach went to check on Zosia herself. She found her sitting alone on a couch on the library balcony, still wearing her blooded armor. Her right hand fist was clenched shut, and rested palm-up on her left hand.
Karlach knocked a hand on the bannister as she approached. Zosia rolled her head toward the red tiefling. Her eyes were puffy, her face dry. As if she had run out of tears.
"Uh, hi," Karlach started uncertainly. "I just came to say I'm sorry. About Eneco. I. Uh. I didn't know him well but you and him were the first to make me feel welcome here. It meant a lot to me. I can go if you want to be alone."
"You can stay," said Zosia, before sniffling. She opened her clenched hand slowly. It held a handful of ashes. "This is all that's left of him," she remarked quietly, before closing her fist again.
"Eneco and I were neophytes in the order together, same training cadre. It's how we met. A bunch of us used to talk about how we wanted to go out. Blaze of glory kind of stuff."
Karlach sat down on the bench beside Zosia, let a slight smile come to her lips. "Me and my mates back at the local used to talk the same way. Bloody determined none of us were going to die old and toothless in our beds let alone live to see thirty." The smile slipped from Karlach's face, "A lot of them didn't."
"It was always minotaurs, dragons, holding out against legions of demons. Big heroic nonsense that would get you written into songs or epic poems," continued Zosia. She clenched her fist tighter as her voice turned bitter, "But not smug-faced prick Cambions. Not getting disintegrated right after opening a bloody door. I cut that hatchet-faced bastard in two but it didn't bring my Eneco back. Of course it didn't. But after it all I just feel so hollow. Is revenge always like that?"
"From the revenge killings I've been party to," said Karlach, "Three times out of four."
They sat quietly for a while before Zosia spoke again, "Zevlor and Gorrem came to sit with me too. They both said I should stay on. Make Eneco's sacrifice worthwhile."
Karlach could hear the doubt in Zosia's voice.
"The only reason Eneco and I joined Zevlor was to look for Mihai," said Zosia, her eyes starting to glisten, "But she's been missing since the day Elturel sank to the hells. I don't even know if she's still alive down here. The clerics have scyred for her so many times and found nothing." She hung her head and was quiet for a moment. "Did I ever tell you about Anton? My son."
Karlach shook her head.
"He's in Baldur's Gate. Just nine years old. Eneco's mum is looking after him while Eneco and I… well. You know. I can't leave my baby girl down here but… Anton's already lost his father. What should I do?"
Karlach was taken aback by the sudden question. She took a moment to think before she answered, "Avernus has claimed too many lives already. No one has any right to blame you for refusing to feed it another. I think your son needs you more than the Hellriders do. Zevlor can find another sword hand. Your son can't find another mum."
A tear slipped from Zosia's eye to slide down her face. "I think it's the right thing to do. But it feels like I'm abandoning Mihai."
"The Hellriders aren't stopping," said Karlach. "They'll keep both eyes peeled for Mihai."
Zosia took a deep breath. "I need to figure out how I'm going to tell Anton. And Eneco's mum. I just… Losing Mihai was already hard. Facing the future without Eneco… I don't know how I'm going to do it."
"I lost my mum when I wasn't much older than your son," said Karlach. "It was hard, but dad and I still found moments of joy despite the pain. I know you and Anton will too."
It was late on the material plane when Raphane finally made it back to the House that night. She had been gone for six days this time. The residents of the House generally tried to keep their schedules close to that of the material plane, and Karlach had already pulled down the blackout curtain in her and Raphane's bedroom. Despite the curtain, Avernus' red glow still saturated the bedroom, as did the orange pulsating glow of Karlach's engine, particularly to a tiefling's darkness adaptive eyesight.
The druid announced her return with a loud sniffle; travel between the planes, and particularly between such dramatically different climates, wreaked havoc with her sinuses.
In short order, a thoroughly exhausted Raphane set down the heavy pack that hung from her shoulder then flopped onto the bed, still fully clothed, boots and all.
"Darling, you're not already asleep are you?" Karlach asked tentatively, unwrapping her arms from around Clive and sitting up on the bed.
Raphane groaned but otherwise portrayed a profound dedication to immobility and unresponsiveness.
"Darling?"
Another groan. Then, a groggy Raphane mumbled: "Karlach, I love you more than life itself but if you don't let me get at least an hour of uninterrupted sleep I will gag you with your own hair."
"Well, that's nice isn't it?" remarked Karlach.
"Fine," grumbled Raphane. "What is it?"
"Nevermind," said Karlach, "You get your beauty sleep."
Raphane shifted to lay her head on Karlach's thigh. "Go on. Out with it," she said, voice still heavy with fatigue.
"Go back to sleep. I'm just going to go for a walk." Karlach had risen from the bed and was about to walk off when Raphane wrapped her arms around the red tiefling's left thigh. "Darling," said Karlach, letting out a chuckle, "It's fine. Really. Get some sleep, we'll talk in the morning."
"Not until you tell me what's on your mind," said Raphane, her head pressed against Karlach's hip.
Karlach took a step. Raphane held on, getting pulled partway off the bed in the process. Karlach laughed. "Really committed to this bit, aren't you?"
"I have a hard time telling when to give up," answered Raphane.
"Fine," said Karlach. "Let go. We'll talk."
"Mmm, okay," said Raphane, relenting and letting go as she settled back in the bed. "But if this is a trick to escape I'm going to have to chase you down."
"You'd never catch me," said Karlach, smirking before she sat down.
"What's this about?" asked Raphane.
"I've been thinking a lot about the Hellriders. They're in a bad state. Eneco died on the last mission."
"Shit," said Raphane, her grumpy demeanor dropping away. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"You couldn't have," said Karlach, "You only just got back after all. It happened a few days ago. Cambion disintegrated him. Didn't stand a chance."
"How's his wife taking it? She's a Hellrider too isn't she?"
"Zosia," said Karlach with a nod, "Struggling, last I heard. Her and Eneco had a son as well. She had a choice to make. Keep risking her life looking for her daughter in Avernus or go back to raise her son while he still has one parent left. She chose to go back to the Gate."
"Gods," murmured Raphane, "What a choice to have to make."
"I think she made the right one," said Karlach. "She was on the fence about it. Made her mind up a little bit after I talked to her. Zevlor wasn't exactly thrilled with the advice I gave her. Now their squad is down two people."
"I'm thinking of joining them the next time they go out, if they'll have me," Karlach kept going, "I've helped them train and guarded the portal for them but I'd be more useful to them out in the fight, doing what I'm best at: killing devils and demons." She looked to Raphane. "What do you think?"
"They would be stupid to turn you down," said Raphane.
"But do you think I should?" asked Karlach.
"Yes," said Raphane.
Karlach laughed, "I was sure you'd try to talk me out of it."
"You haven't seemed quite yourself since we got here. I think you need this, if for nothing else than just to get out of the House for a bit."
Karlach grimaced, "This place does still make my skin crawl. Besides, it never stopped gnawing at me: all those people who sank with Elturel to Avernus. I could have tried to help them. I should have. But I didn't want to risk my precious neck."
"You helped the Elturan refugees from the grove," Raphane offered by way of comfort.
"And how many of them made it in the end?" asked Karlach.
"Barely a handful," Raphane admitted regretfully.
"And when we came here this time, my third time in this shithole, I fell back on old habits. Haven't tried to help or save anyone this whole time."
"You saved me," said Raphane, "Just about every day."
"Mmm. Well I had to, didn't I?" asked Karlach with a grin.
"Just make sure you come back."
"By the by, how come you're so shagged out?" Karlach picked up one of the tired druid's arms and let it fall limply as a demonstration.
"Had to circumnavigate the entire city twice on account of bad directions. Then some cheeky blighter stole the package. Had to chase him across a dozen rooftops. Couldn't even wild shape to chase him for fear of losing sight of the bugger."
"At least you're getting to stretch your legs," said Karlach with a chuckle.
"It's strange," said Raphane, resting her head on Karlach's shoulder, "Spending so much time apart from you after being nigh inseparable for so long. I miss you. I miss being with you. I'm so tired of seeing something new or being somewhere new and not being able to share the moment with you."
Karlach put an arm around Raphane and held her, idly twirled a lock of the druid's red hair around a finger, before putting a hand under Raphane's chin and turning up her face to gaze into her orange within black eyes. The tieflings' eyes locked before their lips did. Once, twice then a third time.
"Exactly how tired are you?" Karlach asked, a hopeful smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"I think I feel a second wind coming," Raphane answered, staring into Karlach's golden eyes.
An eager smile dawned on Karlach's face as she took Raphane by each of her shoulders and laid her down on the bed. "You just lie back and relax, darling. I'll take care of you."
Raphane had just settled her head into the pillow when she felt laces loosen and come undone as Karlach undressed her, then she let out a moan of delight when Karlach's skilled, strong fingers began to massage her aching feet.
The coming tendays settled into a new routine. Raphane continued to go out to acquire supplies and check in with Dammon. The blacksmith and his Gondian colleagues were now focused less on acquiring ingredients and more on testing and proofing. He might need nothing from Raphane for stretches of time and then suddenly have new need of a half dozen rare ingredients when a test lot proved successful, or when he ran through a batch of ingredients sooner than he expected.
The costs were adding up but, thankfully, Grand Duke Wyll Ravenguard and the Gondians had offered from the beginning to help with the expenses. Wyll now had the city coffers to draw from, and restoring the life of one of the heroes who had saved it was an easy expense to justify to the patriars and the other grand dukes. For the Gondians, many of them owed their lives and the lives of their families to Karlach, and the ones who weren't motivated by sentiment were motivated by the need to rehabilitate their reputation, which had suffered due to their collaboration with Gortash, even though that collaboration had been coerced. This was not to say that Raphane wasn't spending any of the coin that she and Karlach had earned during their travels, but the support coming from Wyll and the Gondians meant she wasn't in danger of spending everything they had earned, and it was much appreciated.
Karlach was relieved to be doing more than marking time in the House again. The lightning strikes the Hellriders performed were a new kind of battle for Karlach. Zevlor and Belmira devised most of the plans, which typically involved opening a portal somewhere in Avernus, striking hard and fast, securing the objective, then retreating back through the portal before the enemy could respond.
The length of each engagement would depend on how isolated the target was and the likelihood of Infernal reinforcements. Where that likelihood was high, they kept engagements short, normally less than twenty minutes. When striking isolated targets, they could afford to take more time but tried to get in and out as fast as possible anyhow. As Karlach warned the Hellriders, Infernal forces were often telepathically linked. Simply because no one heard an alarm did not necessarily mean one hadn't been sounded.
Karlach was wearing a proud grin as she stepped out of the portal, blooded greataxe resting on her shoulder. She stepped forward to make room before Zevlor, as ever the last one out, arrived. Once he was through, the portal winked out of existence.
The rest of the squad had already returned. There were a handful of minor injuries that were being tended to, but everyone had returned through the portal on their own legs, and that by itself was worth something. They had also returned with the maps and documents that had been the target of the raid, and those were worth even more to the Hellriders, the next links in the chain that could lead to the next batch of captives to be freed from Infernal imprisonment.
"So how'd I do?" asked Karlach, rounding on Zevlor, smiling eagerly. "We really made those fucking devils sorry they'd been spawned today, didn't we? Hah! That kocrachon didn't have a clue until it was all over."
"You acquitted yourself well," answered Zevlor. Putting a hand on Karlach's shoulder, "I know that I speak for all of us when I say that we're glad of your help."
"Thanks," said Karlach. "It's good to feel useful."
"Oi, Karlach!" The berserker heard Gorrem call out and turned toward the half-orc. "You got visitors!"
"Visitors?" Karlach asked then shrieked with excitement when she saw who stepped out from behind the tall half-orc. "Wyll!" She promptly dropped her axe to charge and wrap Wyll in a hug.
"Karlach," said Wyll amiably, hugging her back, "It's good to see you too. Where's Raphane?" he asked once they had let go of each other. "It used to be that I never saw one of you without the other and now I scarcely seem to see the two of you in the same room anymore."
"Not by choice, believe me. She's out and about," said Karlach. "Today it's Luskan."
"Luskan? I hope she knows to mind her purse."
"It's not her first time. She'll be alright."
Karlach only then noticed the two men standing on either side of Wyll. Cloaks hung from their shoulders. Beneath those cloaks Karlach could see the leather armor that they wore as well as their hands close to the hilts of their swords as they regarded her with wary, detached coldness. Karlach raised a brow and her smile turned cocky. "And aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends?"
"My men-at-arms," said Wyll. "Retra and Cull."
"Nice to meet you," Karlach chirped at the nearest one as she offered a hand to shake, her demeanor becoming even more aggressively friendly against the determined professional coldness of the bodyguards. Prompted by a nod from Wyll, the bodyguards did shake her hand, reluctantly.
"By the way," said Karlach, turning her attention back to Wyll, "Raphane told me you made grand duke. How's that going?"
"Challenging, but worthwhile," said Wyll.
"I'm surprised you found time to come see me."
"For an old friend? I made the time, and I rather think I took long enough getting here."
"I want to hear everything," said Karlach. "Come on, I'll show you around."
"Karlach." She turned around to see Zevlor holding her greataxe. "You dropped this."
A bashful smile flickered across Karlach's face as she took quick steps toward Zevlor to reclaim the weapon, murmur "Thanks," and secure it to its baldric before she turned back to Wyll. "Now I'll show you around."
Karlach took Wyll, with bodyguards in tow, on a tour of the House of Hope. Along the way, Wyll caught Karlach up on the goings-on in the city. Finally, they finished up with a good bit of reminiscing about old times over a couple pints in the feast hall.
"Before I go," said Wyll to Karlach, "I brought a gift for you. Cull, if you'd please."
The bodyguard removed a greatsword and baldric from over his shoulder and handed it to Wyll before he, in turn, handed it to Karlach. The red tiefling blinked, surprised, as she accepted the weapon.
"Go on," encouraged Wyll.
"And I didn't get you anything," mumbled Karlach as she removed the greatsword from its sheath. The weapon was immediately familiar: the ornamental handguard, the widened, boarsword-style tip of the blade. But it was the feeling of the magic coursing through the weapon that was unmistakable. "This is Balduran's sword!" Karlach exclaimed. "I told Raphane-"
"And she told me," said Wyll.
"This sword belongs in Baldur's Gate," said Karlach. "It's a bloody heirloom of the city. Gods' sake! Put in a museum. Keep it on your mantle or something. The Gate is where it belongs. Not in fucking Avernus of all places!"
"Where this sword belongs is in the hands of someone who is going to make a difference in the world," said Wyll. "Not rusting on a shelf or locked in a display case."
"Why not use it yourself then?"
"Not really my style," said Wyll, and patted the hilt of his rapier.
Karlach grimaced uncertainly. "Are you really sure about this? I mean you saw how I dropped my bloody axe and forgot about it the moment I saw you. I might lose it."
"You might," said Wyll. "But if this weapon helps at all to bring you safely home I will count it a worthwhile cost and I harbor no doubts whatsoever that, as the bearer of this weapon, you will do our city proud."
Karlach chortled.
"What?" asked Wyll.
"You just sounded like… nevermind. Thank you, Wyll." Karlach turned the weapon over in her hands. It was now free of the many toothy projections and pulsating buboes that had adorned it when she had first laid eyes on it, the Illithid corruption that had infested Balduran's sword as well as Balduran himself. "This restoration, it's Dammon's handiwork, isn't it?"
"A most diligent young man," said Wyll. "Between his regular duties as forgemaster, and the work he's doing to fix your engine, he still found time to restore this sword to its former glory, and was kind enough to let me be the one to return it to you. Although he did tell me to let you know that the sword's magics may not be as potent as they used to be."
Karlach sighed, "Just make sure he takes a day off every once in a while, or else I'll have to take a trip to the city to force the matter."
"I'll see it done," said Wyll with a smirk.