This past session they returned to the ogre village with a Legion Devil they found trapped in a cave in the volcanic mountains. The devil had pledged to stay with them in exchange for them rescuing him, but he kept trying to convince them they should go in a different direction, to link up with the rest of his unit.
Also, if you recall, one of the PCs had died in the process of killing their ogre shaman guide, and the one-eyed wizard used a ritual to fuse them into a single new being. The player decided his new character's name should be Quaid (see #8 on
this page).
So the party rolls into town, hooks up with their allies, and then they make plans to head out and investigate the devil legion. But first the one-eyed wizard wants to talk with the town's half-succubus 'keeper of records.' She has a ledger of who owns which slaves, and he wants to convince her that it is financially in her favor to release her slaves, and treat them well as 'employees' so they'll work more enthusiastically for her.
After some wrangling and discussion, the party figures out that basically the whole city consists of three corporate-style power structures -- each led either by the record-keeper, the town's head shaman, or the militia leader. Everyone owns slaves on a lower tier, and aside from the lowest few levels, everyone figures this is a pretty good way to run things. However, the record-keeper agrees to release a handful of slaves as a test if the party can get the other two leaders to do the same. She thinks it's a silly idea, though, and will just cause trouble.
Trouble begins soon thereafter when the party's female rogue tries to betray the party. Ever since she met the record-keeper a few sessions ago, she's wanted to get a demonic infusion of her own so she can be more powerful. She's been trying to sabotage the party's plans for weeks. Now that they're back from the volcano, after the slave-wrangling discussion, the rogue goes to the record-keeper and blabs about all the party's plans and secrets.
Then, hoping to get a reward, she points out, "Hey, your personal aide has horns and fiery eyes. How would one go about getting power like that?"
The player just wants to get some new magic for herself, but the record-keeper and her personal aide view this as a threat. They think the rogue is trying to move in on the aide's job. They brush her off and send her on a little fetch quest to keep her occupied. They ask her to steal a ritual the party found and has been hiding, which they intend to use to close the Maelstrom (the portal to the abyss the wizard PC threw his eye down).
Meanwhile, in a completely unrelated move, ogre-man Quaid decides that with his new body, he needs a new sword. He wants to make a greatsword out of obsidian they brought back from the volcano, but he needs a power source to enchant it and make it strong. After much discussing and brainstorming, he figures out that since the ogres use obsidian to trap souls of their enemies, he should try to trap the soul of a monster -- something evil, like a demon, so he won't be hurting a good person.
"But where to find a demon?" ponders Quaid.
The Legion Devil at this point volunteers. He claims that he can bring back a demon's blood and soul if Quaid agrees to leave with him as soon as his sword is complete, to find his fellow legionnaires. Quaid's player is somehow completely oblivious to what this implies, and he agrees eagerly.
Flash forward to that evening, during a rainstorm, Quaid wakes up, thinking water is dripping on his face. Then he opens his eyes and sees the severed head of the record-keeper's aide, held in the Legion Devil's hand, still warm blood dribbling from her neck. The Legion Devil explains that he has covered his tracks perfectly. He killed the record-keeper's aide, then killed and disposed of the body of a disgruntled slave, but left the rest of the record-keeper's aide's body at that slave's home to make it look like the slave killed her.
Flash forward a bit more. Quaid goes and tells the rest of the party (minus the rogue, who is on her fetch quest) what happened. The one-eyed wizard thinks the best way to avoid a tiny civil war in the ogre city is to explain exactly what happened and hand over the devil to the record-keeper. Quaid is afraid that will implicate him. The rest of the party outvotes him, and they go to talk to the record-keeper.
Quaid slips away and convinces the Legion Devil to go and reunite with his legion. He figures this will pin the guilt more clearly on the devil, and leave him in the clear.
When the party gets to the record-keeper, they start to explain, but she cuts them off.
Half-Succubus Record Keeper (HSRK): "Don't worry. I know exactly what happened, and you are not in any danger."
Party: "Huh?"
HSRK: "You shouldn't trust your rogue friend. I thought at first it would be good to cultivate an ally out of your group, but now I know that she has betrayed me."
Party: *very confused still, trying not to let on* "Really? Do explain."
HSRK: "I know she tried to frame you for my aide's murder. She came to me, offering your secrets in exchange for power, but she's not as subtle as she thinks. It's so obvious; the evening after you press for the release of slaves, one of my slaves 'conveniently' rebels and kills my second in command?"
Party: *mumbling amongst each other* "She shared all our secrets with her? Crap. Oh wait, we never figured out who tried to kill the wizard in his sleep last week. Was that her?"
HSRK: "If she thinks I'd be so naive as to believe one of you were responsible, when just hours earlier she was implying she wanted to take my aide's place, then she deserves the worst punishment we can imagine."
Party: *looks amongst each other, realizing that they now have a choice to either betray their dumb but well-meaning ally Quaid, or the rogue who has apparently been sabotaging them this whole adventure*
The one-eyed wizard starts to explain that, no, you've got it wrong, it's actually our faul-. But then the rest of the party shushes him and shifts the blame as quickly and convincingly as they can manage. Just then, the rogue returns from her fetch quest and goes to see the record-keeper, and she walks in on the whole group, stolen ritual in hand.
