Thema: Prologue - A place most foul

[Ultan]

Sceptically the witch tilts her head. For a faint moment hope glimmers ope in her eyes, then she burst in almost maniacal laughter.

"A way back? You say you'll come back to this place even if you find an escape from Avernus? As if there was a soul in all of the Nine Hells that'd be this pure and honest. Hah, I almost fell for it. Don't you play games with an old woman, Clueless One.
Now get out of my house, we're done with the talking. You go and try your luck with getting out of this rotten plane, I'll be sittin' here for the rest of my miserable life."

[Damian]

Nathanael nods and follows the witch's instructions.

[Ultan]

Nathanael leaves the witche's shack, preparing to make his way to the Pillar of Skulls.
As soon as he's a few yards away from the hut, Hexla the Mad shouts after him:

"Don't forget where you are, Prime. There is no one to be trusted in the Nine Hells, mark my words."

A maniacal laughter follows shortly after. Looks like her personality fits her name after all.

Shaking of the uneasy feeling, the wizard steps out of the mountain cave and walks towards his next destinition. The right path is not hard to find but walking it turn out to be far from convenient. The sharp, bloodied rocks pierce through the soles of Nathanael's shoes. All too often the young man has to cower behind debris or jagged crags to stay out of sight of passing fiends and soon his body is covered in bruises.
The fiery explosions in the distance only add to the feeling of impending doom.
Nevertheless the witches directions were quite accurate and after a few hours of hardship a tall pillar rises before Nathanael.

The Pillar of Skulls is huge, towering almost a hundreth feet into the sky and as Nathanael draws closer he hears the sound of many voices, argueing and bickering among themselves. Soon the voices rise into a cacaphony of sound in the still air of the surrounding hills.

As it turns out, the pillar is not exactly made of skulls. Instead, it is a pile of the living heads of humand, dwarves, elves, and other beings not so easily identifiable. The heads, in various states of decay and decomposition, are little mor than bone-boxes with no more trace of their former bodies. Yet some of them remain silent, keeping a watch over the surroundings, while others stay quiet only because they're missing pieces of their jaws or tongues.
It looks as though the Pillar of Skulls extends into the ground, with half buried heads still trying to talk, despite the earth filling their mouths.

Nathanael stands now in front of the pillar, only a few feet away from the monstrosities that live inside. Some of the heads have taken notice of him, eyeing him with suspicion, but overall the pillar seems to ignore him.

[Damian]

Nathanael has read about many magical or mysterious places. A day ago, he would have been sure to face every absurdity, no matter how strange, but now he remains silent for a couple of seconds. Skulls. Where ever he looks. And still talking. But well, what had he exspected in hell?

He clears his throat:

"Uh, hullo."

[Ultan]

Suddenly all heads fall silent, and all eyes turn twoard Nathanael. The heads begin a hushed babble, each seeking to gain the wizards attention, until one voice cuts off the rest with a booming
"'Nuff!"
The head that spoke, larger than most of the rest, perhaps belonged to an ogre or even a giant. Though remarkably ugly and decayed, it manages a slurred, slow but still understandable speech.
Grotesquely rolling his eyes, the giant head spies Nathanael.

"What business do you have with Khazarn, human?", the head roars.

[Damian]

Nathanael tries to speak as clear and certain as he is able to.

"I am looking for a portal back to the material plane.

[Ultan]

The pillar bursts into laughter.

"A Prime!"

"A Cluesless!"

"He wants to get back to the Material Plane, did you hear?"

"Doesn't he know? What is he, stupid?"

"What folly! A cluesless stranded in hell."

"Foolish Prime, foolish Prime!"

"As if there was but one Material Plane. He doesn't know, right?"

"SILENCE!"

The giant head's voice bellows and all other heads fall silent. Then the big, ugly face turns to Nathanael.

"Cluesless you are indeed, human. There is no way back to the place you call the "Material Plane". There is but a myriad of different planes with that name which all exist next to each other. Correctly choosing the one you're belonging to is next to impossible. You won't be gettin' back home, Prime.
But if you're looking for a way out of Avernus, then we shall strike a bargain."

[Damian]

Another prime material plane? No way. These skulls must have mixed something up. Nathanael gets a headache by the sheer thought and shakes his head to dispel the gnawing questions. He has to concentrate on the main problem.

"Well, every way out of Avernus is more than exspected. Since we are still in hell, what kind of bargain do you have in mind."

[Ultan]

The monstrous head smiles hideously.

"You want answers human. I on the other hand want something more lively. It's unfortunate you don't have company, so the sacrifice is up to you. What will it be? You could bring me a fiend, although something personal is much more tasty. Perhaps an arm or a leg?"

While the giant head drools in anticipation, an elvish looking head pops up.

"Don't listen to this abomination, human! I'll tell you for a much cheaper price. You just have to knock this ugly big head out of the pillar. Erase him and I'll tell you whatever you need to know."

A third head with a gnomish appeareance speaks up from the lower part of the pillar. Both of his eyes are missing, but he looks at you with rotten, empty sockets nevertheless.

"The spellkey! I need the spellkey to Avernus! Give it to me and you shall be rewarded handsomely!"

Soon all the other heads are chiming in with their own offers in exchange for the secret to leaving the plane.

[Damian]

Nathanael is obviously overextended. Does he realy have to offer his arm, fight a rotten head or search a key for a dead gnome? What key, besides? The wizard knees down.

"What is a spellkey?"

[Ultan]

Again, the pillar burst in to laughter. The heads seem to be quite amused by Nathanael's ignorance.

The gnome explains:
"Both most intriguing and essential the spellkeys hold the power for tapping into arcane power within the planes. Without a key there is no weaving spells, this is one of the most basic planar rules.
You don't know? You don't seem to be the brutish type either. What are you, a godsman?"

[Damian]

Nathanael smiles in frustration.

"Well, but actually I did cast a spell and do not hold any spellkey?"

[Ultan]

The gnome's dead eyes look at you.

"Impossible. Without a key to touch there is no casting spells. This is not a law to be ignored by a mere mortal."

[Damian]

Having the words of the witch in mind, Nathanael was unsure what to do next. Right now, three skulls offered their bargain and obviously marked the hidden trap of the bargain. But despite the fact, that he neither wants to losse any part of his body nor touch any of these rotten skulls, the young wizard does not yet understand what this key thing was all about.

The witch told him to ask about the key and so did he but to no use. He posseses no key and though he was able to cast a spell either the skull lies or he surprisingly does posses something without noticing. Due to the fact, that he is a terrible lier, he tries questioning further.

"Well, probably I got you wrong. Probably I do posses a key. How does this key look like?"

[Ultan]

The gnome spits some clotted blood on the ground, then answers:

"Keys take many forms and have many uses. Think of the planes as a locked up, forbidden place. In order to advance you have to unriddle what lies ahead. Sometimes an object is a key, sometimes a gesture. There are keys that exist only in your mind while others are bizarre rituals that have to be executed with utmost care.
Key are important for unraveling the planes, human. Rarely are they easy to come by but most often a precious secret only known to few. You see, knowledge is quite the treasure in the planes.

You say you have aquired a key without knowing? Baator is not a place were good fortune comes freely, mortal. You should take care not to draw unwanted attention."