Gods, Monsters, and Poor Life Choices // D&D

Session 6, the Devil You Know pt.1

SESSION 62026-03-20

Date: 2026-03-20

Summary

The dust had barely settled over the Eomane estate when a loud knock rattled the front door. Standing on the threshold was Valeria, a hollyphant investigator for the Watch — a small, winged, elephant-like celestial being who floated lazily on the air and regarded the party with an expression of profound unimpressedness. She had come to investigate noise complaints and a blood-red sheen that had briefly covered the exterior of the building, and she wasted no time pushing past the door and making herself at home. After being directed to the office, she helped herself to an entire bottle of the house brandy — poured by the young Nysene Eomane — and listened with barely concealed skepticism as the party explained that Trentellar Eomane had attempted to sacrifice them to Bhaal. Despite the summoning circle still visible in the other room and a mudroom stacked with corpses, Valeria remained unconvinced, noting that the Flaming Fist held no jurisdiction in the Upper City and that she had heard tired Bhaalist stories before. She departed with a parting warning that she had her eye on the group and showed herself out into the night.

With the investigator gone, the party turned their attention to the mysterious floating, glowing red quill recovered from the Eomane attic. Quillbit, the palm-sized imp who served as the group's infernal consultant, suggested they visit the Devil's Fee — a shop in Heapside known for dealing in demonic and devilish curiosities, one that grew notably more active the later the night became. Before heading out, Velessa made a sweep of the estate, collecting Watch tokens from the bodies of the Eomane family and their servants so that every member of the party would be able to pass through the city gates between the Lower and Upper City after dark. The group agreed to gather information on the quill before reporting back to their employer, and set off into the night.

A short rest was in order first, and the party made their way to the Blade & Stars, the tavern where Vagnfríður worked. Her bosses, Arunyan and Lupin, were busy working the floor when the group arrived, and Lupin teased Vagnfríður about her nickname before she negotiated twenty minutes in the kitchen. Quillbit had been promised food and made her impatience abundantly clear, rubbing her tiny claws together in anticipation. What followed was one of the finest meals Vagnfríður had ever prepared — a magnificent roast of rothé, a beast described as something between a cow and a ram, accompanied by a rich potato stew and grilled root vegetables seasoned with an array of spices. The smell was so extraordinary it turned heads throughout the entire tavern, and Quillbit spent the meal darting around the table snatching scraps from everyone's plates with gleeful abandon.

Their next stop was the Devil's Fee, where the gold dwarf proprietor Helsik was counting coin behind the counter when they arrived. Velessa inquired about an infernal quill known as the Calamus Pactum — a floating, glowing red object that had come into their possession through the Eomane estate. Helsik identified the name as infernal, translating it to something akin to "Quill of the Pact," and admitted that while the object sounded significant, she was not the foremost expert on such things. She made a subtle gesture — as though pressing an earbud deeper into her ear — and after a brief, quiet exchange, arranged a meeting for the following night at midnight at a place called Rat's Run in the Sea Tower district, where a contact named Korrilla would be waiting. Helsik offered one piece of practical advice before they left: do not touch the pointy end with any fleshy bits.

The party then made their way to the Imravel Exchange, where a single light burned in Saresha Imravel's office long past midnight. Quillbit, never one for subtlety, announced their arrival by shouting "Hey, bitch! Saresha!" at the top of her lungs from the courtyard below, which brought Saresha out onto her balcony with an expression of weary exasperation. Once upstairs, the party recounted the events at the Eomane estate — the Bhaalist sacrifice, the battle, the deaths — and Saresha reflected grimly on Baldur's Gate's long history of being plagued by the Dead Three cults, mentioning a recent Flaming Fist raid on a slaughterhouse temple just outside the city gates. When the party produced the letter bearing a signature associated with Szass Tam, Saresha's composure cracked entirely — her hand shook as she held it, and she returned it as quickly as possible without a word of explanation. She paid the party five hundred gold for their work and asked them to continue investigating, then poured herself a drink and eventually fell asleep on her office couch, her book across her lap, until Vagnfríður quietly carried her to the luxurious bedroom beyond.

The following day brought the unglamorous task of dealing with the seven bodies still stacked in the mudroom. Seris negotiated with a contact named Leone, a body disposal specialist, eventually settling on twenty gold for transport and burial — a price that felt steep until someone pointed out that burying seven people was, in fact, quite the undertaking. Leone arrived with her assistants, loaded the corpses into a wagon, and departed, leaving the estate considerably less grim. With the house cleared, the party began claiming rooms — Shane moved in, Minerva retained her existing room, and Nysene and Russora Eomane sprinted upstairs to bar their bedroom doors before anyone else could claim them. The group discussed converting the upper storage rooms into proper living quarters and perhaps a training hall, with a minibar considered a non-negotiable feature.

After a long rest to recover from their wounds, the party made their way to the Sea Tower district as midnight approached. Rat's Run was a bustling, lawless establishment with a heavy Guild presence, its patrons a mix of townspeople and pirates. The pirate Zach, whom the party had encountered before in the lost library, was passed out face-down at the bar, nearly drowning in his spilled beer. Shane recognized the orc bartender, Yerna Goldtooth, who directed them to a private booth along the west wall where Korrilla was already waiting, reading a small black book with sharp points and edges.

Korrilla, a gold dwarf with an air of quiet authority, confirmed she had been expecting them. When Velessa produced the Calamus Pactum from its pillowcase, it immediately began to levitate off the seat on its own, drawing a look of genuine fascination from Korrilla. She explained that the quill had passed through many hands and had been used to sign many notorious contracts, and that if the legends were true, it had been crafted by Asmodeus himself. To confirm its authenticity, she proposed summoning an assessor — and offered to cover the cost herself in exchange for a future favor: the party's protection on a three-day venture. The party agreed, and Korrilla placed a soul coin — an iron disc about five inches across, containing a bound soul — on the table, then snapped an infernal spellbone over it. The eternal flames throughout Rat's Run dimmed for a moment, and without any fanfare, a woman in black robes appeared at the end of the table, holding the soul coin. She introduced herself as Vhale, the Assessor.

Without ceremony, Vhale transported the entire party from the tavern to her grand office in the city of Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells. The heat hit like a wall — dry, searing, almost unbearable — and through the office windows stretched an endless infernal city crackling with fire and filled with the distant wailing of voices. Vagnfríður's axe radiated a profound sense of wrongness the moment they arrived. Vhale lowered her hood, remarked that it was good to be home, and asked to see the object.

She placed the Calamus Pactum on a golden scale and began adding soul coins to the opposite side, one after another, but no matter how many she added, the quill remained heavier. Then she retrieved a jar from her shelf, reached inside, and withdrew a blackened anatomical heart that oozed a miasmic infernal soot so corrosive it singed even the floors of Dis as it dripped. She placed the heart on the scale, and it balanced perfectly. Satisfied, she returned the heart to its jar, retrieved a book, and began to explain. The Calamus Pactum had been forged by Asmodeus from the wing of a fallen celestial and used to sign the original pact with the Toril Thirteen — thirteen tiefling warlocks whose agreement with the Lord of the Nine Hells was the reason all tieflings carried his blood in their veins. Séantal, the party's tiefling clerk, received this information with the particular stillness of someone learning something they had always half-suspected.

Vhale then unrolled a blank infernal scroll on her desk, summoned a quill to her hand, and began writing at speed, her eyes going perfectly black — two shimmering pools of obsidian — as she worked. The resulting document was a Certificate of Authenticity recording the complete chain of ownership of the Calamus Pactum, stretching back through Mephistopheles, through various mortal infernalists, antiquarians, pact brokers, and collectors, through Valindra Shadowmantle, and finally through Trentellar Eomane — to the party themselves, named as its joint legal owners under the laws of Hell. She also described the quill's properties: it produced its own infernal ink and never ran dry, its writing could not be erased by ordinary means, it could bind contract signers to their word under threat of psychic torment, and it could compel truthful answers from anyone who touched a page on which a question had been written. When Vagnfríður asked why her axe had been making her feel so ill since their arrival, Vhale examined it and suggested that the axe — once belonging to the wizard Lethchauntos — simply had unpleasant associations with the Hells from past experience.

With the assessment complete, Vhale wrapped the Calamus Pactum carefully in a cloth that seemed cut from the darkest night sky and handed it back to the party. She returned them to the prime material plane as abruptly as she had taken them, and the party found themselves back in their booth at Rat's Run, the oppressive heat of Dis replaced by the comparatively cool air of the tavern. As they settled back into the noise and candlelight of the establishment, they noticed a pirate woman named Rhaegra watching them from across the room — eyes fixed on the group with an intensity that suggested she had been watching since the moment they walked through the door.

Short

Following a violent confrontation at the Eomane estate involving a Bhaalist sacrifice, the party was visited by Valeria, a skeptical hollyphant investigator for the Watch, who departed unconvinced despite the evidence before her. The group then focused on a mysterious floating red quill recovered from the estate's attic. After a restorative meal at the Blade & Stars, they visited the Devil's Fee, where proprietor Helsik identified the object as the Calamus Pactum and arranged a midnight meeting with a contact named Korrilla. The party also reported their findings to their employer, Saresha Imravel, who paid them five hundred gold and visibly shook upon seeing a letter bearing a signature linked to Szass Tam. Back at the estate, they handled the unglamorous task of disposing of seven bodies and began settling into the property as a new base of operations.

At midnight, the party met Korrilla at Rat's Run in the Sea Tower district, where she confirmed the quill's significance and proposed summoning an infernal assessor named Vhale to verify its authenticity. Vhale transported the entire group to her office in Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells, where she confirmed through a dramatic weighing ritual that the Calamus Pactum was genuine — a quill forged by Asmodeus from a fallen celestial's wing, used to sign the original pact with the Toril Thirteen, the agreement responsible for tiefling bloodlines. The party's tiefling clerk, Séantal, received this revelation in stunned silence. Vhale produced a Certificate of Authenticity naming the party as the quill's joint legal owners under infernal law and outlined its formidable properties, including the ability to bind signers to their word and compel truthful answers. Returned to the prime material plane, the group barely had time to process the experience before noticing a pirate woman named Rhaegra watching them from across the tavern with unsettling intensity.

Classic

Last we left off, our intrepid band found themselves in the aftermath of a harrowing night at the Eomane estate — blood on the walls, bodies in the mudroom, and a summoning circle still scorched into the floor. A visit from Valeria, a hollyphant investigator with a bottle of brandy and a profound lack of jurisdiction, did little to complicate matters, and the party turned their attention to the strange, glowing red quill recovered from the attic. Guided by the ever-hungry imp Quillbit, they made their way through the city — pausing for what may have been the finest roast rothé ever prepared in the Blade and Stars kitchen — before visiting the Devil's Fee, where the proprietor Helsik arranged a midnight meeting with a contact named Korrilla. A stop at the Imravel Exchange followed, where their employer Saresha received the news of the Eomane estate's grim fate with weary resignation — until a letter bearing the signature of Szass Tam turned her composure to ash. She paid the party five hundred gold and poured herself a very large drink.

The following day brought the unglamorous business of body disposal, room assignments, and a long-overdue rest before the party made their way to Rat's Run in the Sea Tower district. There, in a private booth along the west wall, Korrilla — a gold dwarf of quiet authority — confirmed what Helsik had suspected: the Calamus Pactum was no ordinary quill. To verify its authenticity, she summoned an assessor named Vhale, who wasted no time transporting the entire party to her office in Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells. The heat was searing, the city outside the windows crackled with eternal fire, and Vagnfríður's axe radiated a deep and unmistakable wrongness. There, Vhale placed the quill upon a golden scale, balanced it against a blackened, oozing anatomical heart, and confirmed what legend had long whispered — the Calamus Pactum was forged by Asmodeus himself from the wing of a fallen celestial, used to sign the original pact with the Toril Thirteen, and was the very reason tiefling blood carries the mark of the Nine Hells to this day. Séantal received this particular piece of history in thoughtful silence.

Vhale produced a Certificate of Authenticity tracing the quill's chain of ownership through infernalists, antiquarians, and the lich Valindra Shadowmantle — ending with the party themselves, named as its joint legal owners under the laws of Hell. She described its properties, wrapped it carefully in cloth cut from the darkest night sky, and returned the group to the prime material plane as abruptly as she had taken them. Now, back in the candlelit noise of Rat's Run, the oppressive heat of Dis replaced by the comparatively merciful air of Baldur's Gate, the party finds themselves in possession of one of the most significant infernal artifacts in recorded history — and across the room, a pirate woman named Rhaegra watches them with eyes that have not moved since the moment they walked through the door...

Memorable Moments

Quillbit shouts 'Hey, bitch! Saresha!' at the top of her lungs from the courtyard of the Imravel Exchange late at night to get Saresha's attention.

The party needed to contact Saresha after midnight; Quillbit took the initiative in the most chaotic way possible.

Vhale places a blackened, oozing anatomical heart on the scale — the only counterweight heavy enough to balance against the Calamus Pactum.

During the appraisal in Dis, soul coins piled high could not outweigh the quill; only a blackened infernal heart could balance it.

Saresha's hand visibly shakes as she reads the letter bearing Szass Tam's signature, and she returns it as quickly as possible without a word of explanation.

The party casually hands over the letter found at the Eomane estate, not anticipating how deeply it would unsettle the composed Thayan merchant.

Scenes

An Unwelcome Investigator

Following the battle at the Eomane estate, a celestial investigator named Valeria arrives to look into reports of magical disturbances and noise complaints.

Valeria, a hollyphant investigator for the Watch, knocks on the door of the Eomane house and pushes her way inside.
The party explains that Trentellar Eomane is dead after attempting to sacrifice them to Bhaal.
Valeria expresses skepticism regarding the presence of Bhaalists, despite the party pointing out a summoning circle and the pile of corpses in the mudroom.
Nysene Eomane is sent to fetch brandy for Valeria, who proceeds to drink the entire bottle while lounging in the office.
Valeria dismisses the party's claims of working for the Flaming Fist, noting they have no jurisdiction in the Upper City.
After a brief and cynical interrogation, Valeria leaves the house, promising to keep an eye on the group as she continues her investigation.

Planning the Next Step

The party consults with Minerva and Quillbit about the mysterious infernal quill found in the attic and decides on their next moves.

Minerva asks the party what they intend to do about the 'hellish thing' in the attic.
Quillbit suggests visiting the Devil's Fee, a shop in Heapside known for dealing in demonic and devilish items.
The party decides to gather information on the quill before reporting back to Saresha.
Velessa collects watch tokens from the deceased Eomane family and servants to ensure the party can move between the Lower and Upper City at night.

A Hearty Meal at the Blade & Stars

The party takes a short rest at Vagnfríður's place of work, where she prepares a legendary feast while the group discusses their next steps.

The party travels to the Blade & Stars tavern in the Lower City.
Vagnfríður meets her bosses, Arunyan and Lupin, and convinces them to let her use the kitchen for twenty minutes.
Quillbit reminds the party that she was promised food.
Vagnfríður cooks a legendary roast of rothé, potato stew, and grilled vegetables for the party.
Quillbit eagerly snatches leftovers from the plates of the party members.
Velessa and Vagnfríður discuss the differences between surface life and the Underdark, specifically regarding food and the sun.
The party debates whether to visit the Devil's Fee or report to Saresha first.
Séantal reveals their heritage stems from the lower planes, specifically Hades.
The party takes a short rest while eating.

Inquiry at the Devil's Fee

The party visits Helsik's shop to gather information about the mysterious floating quill and arranges a meeting with an expert.

The party enters the Devil's Fee and encounters Helsik counting gold behind the counter.
Velessa asks about an infernal quill known as the Calamus Pactum.
Helsik identifies the name as infernal, translating it to something like 'Quill of the Pact'.
Helsik admits she isn't the primary expert but contacts a more knowledgeable friend via a subtle magical gesture.
A meeting is arranged for the following night at midnight at Rat's Run with an expert named Korrilla.
Helsik warns the party not to touch the pointy end of the quill with any fleshy bits.
Helsik offers various magical components for sale, including sulfur for fireball spells.
Velessa inquires about the monetary value of drow blood.

Midnight Report at the Imravel Exchange

The party reports their findings at the Eomane estate to Saresha Imravel and discusses the threat of Bhaalist cultists in Baldur's Gate.

Quillbit shouts for Saresha from the courtyard to get her attention late at night.
The party informs Saresha that the Eomanes were Bhaalists and that the party was nearly sacrificed.
Saresha discusses the history of the Dead Three cults in Baldur's Gate and mentions a recent Flaming Fist raid on a slaughterhouse temple.
The party shows Saresha a letter bearing a signature that visibly terrifies her, causing her hand to shake.
Saresha pays the party 500 gold for their investigation and asks them to continue looking into the matter.
The group shares drinks with Saresha as she reflects on her complicated feelings regarding Maelra Szandru.
Saresha eventually falls asleep on her couch while reading, and Vagnfríður carries her to her luxurious bedroom.

Cleaning House at the Eomane Estate

The party deals with the grim task of removing the bodies from the Eomane house and begins claiming rooms for themselves.

Seris negotiates with a contact named Leon to remove seven bodies from the estate.
After some haggling over the price of funerary services, the party pays 20 gold to have the bodies transported and buried.
Leon and his assistants load the corpses into a wagon and depart.
Shane decides to move into one of the rooms in the Eomane house.
Nysene and Russora Eomane quickly bar the doors to their bedrooms to claim their space.
The party discusses converting the servants' quarters and storage rooms into living spaces and a training hall, with Vagnfríður and Minerva also claiming rooms.
The party takes a long rest to recover before their midnight meeting.

The Meeting at Rat's Run

The party travels to the Sea Tower district to meet with an infernal contact regarding the Calamus Pactum.

The party arrives at Rat's Run, a lawless tavern with a heavy Guild presence.
The party notices the pirate Zath passed out face-down at the bar.
Shane recognizes Yerna Goldtooth behind the bar and asks for Korrilla's location.
The party meets Korrilla, a gold dwarf infernalist, in a private booth along the back wall.
Velessa reveals the Calamus Pactum, which begins to levitate once uncovered from its pillowcase.
Korrilla explains the quill's history, claiming it was crafted by Asmodeus for signing major contracts.
Korrilla offers to summon an appraiser to identify the quill's true value in exchange for a future favor — accompanying her on a three-day venture.
The party agrees to the arrangement.

The Summoning of the Assessor and Journey to Dis

Korrilla uses a soul coin and a spellbone to summon Vhale the Assessor, who transports the entire party to her office in the city of Dis.

Korrilla places a soul coin on the table as payment for the assessment.
Korrilla snaps an infernal spellbone over the soul coin, causing the eternal flames in the tavern to dim momentarily.
Vhale, the Assessor, appears at the table in black robes, holding the soul coin.
Vhale transports the party from the tavern to her grand office in the city of Dis.
The party is hit with an unbearable blast of dry heat upon arrival, overlooking an endless infernal city.
Vagnfríður's axe gives her an intense feeling of dread upon entering the Hells.

Assessment in the Ninth Measure

In Vhale's office in Dis, the Calamus Pactum is authenticated and its dark history and powers are revealed to the party.

Vhale places the Calamus Pactum on a golden scale and attempts to balance it with soul coins, but the quill remains heavier than all of them combined.
Vhale balances the scale using a blackened anatomical heart that oozes infernal soot, singeing even the floors of hell.
Vhale reveals the quill was forged by Asmodeus from the wing of a fallen celestial and used to sign the original pact with the Toril Thirteen.
Vhale explains that the Toril Thirteen were thirteen tiefling warlocks whose pact is the reason all tieflings carry the blood of Asmodeus.
Vhale writes a Certificate of Authenticity on an infernal scroll, naming all five party members as joint legal owners of the Calamus Pactum.
The party learns the quill's magical properties: it produces its own ink, its writing is magically permanent, it can bind contract signers under a geas, and it can compel truthful answers.
Vagnfríður asks why her axe causes her discomfort in the Hells; Vhale suggests it is because the axe once belonged to the wizard Lethchauntos and has unpleasant associations with the place.
Vhale describes the city of Dis, where souls are condemned to eternal, futile construction labor.
The party is safely transported back to the material plane, reappearing in their booth at Rat's Run.
Upon returning, the party notices a pirate named Rhaegra watching them intently from across the room.

NPCs

Valeria

A hollyphant investigator for the Watch who resembles a small winged elephant. She is cynical, smokes a pipe, and has a penchant for high-quality brandy. She arrives at the Eomane estate to investigate noise complaints and a blood-red sheen seen on the building's exterior. She drinks an entire bottle of the house brandy, dismisses the party's claims with skepticism, and departs promising to keep an eye on them.

Nysene Eomane

The eldest Eomane daughter, who fetches brandy for Valeria under the party's direction and later quickly bars her bedroom door to claim her room as the party moves into the house.

Russora Eomane

The youngest Eomane daughter, who secures her room upstairs alongside her sister as the party begins moving into the Eomane house.

Minerva al-Qadir

A guest at the Eomane House who prompts the party to investigate the infernal item found in the attic and claims one of the bedrooms for her continued use.

Quillbit

A palm-sized imp acting as an infernal consultant and familiar. She suggests the Devil's Fee as a source of information, eagerly devours rothé scraps from the party's plates, boisterously calls out to Saresha from the courtyard, and perches on Korrilla's shoulder during the assessment in Dis.

Arunyan

One of Vagnfríður's bosses at the Blade & Stars, seen busily waiting tables when the party arrives.

Lupin

One of Vagnfríður's bosses at the Blade & Stars who teases Vagnfríður about her nickname and shift schedule before allowing her use of the kitchen.

Helsik

A gold dwarf and proprietor of the Devil's Fee. She is knowledgeable about infernal artifacts and, after hearing about the Calamus Pactum, uses a subtle magical gesture to contact a friend and arranges a midnight meeting between the party and Korrilla at Rat's Run.

Saresha Imravel

The head of the Imravel Exchange who is visibly and physically terrified upon seeing a letter bearing the signature associated with Szass Tam. She pays the party 500 gold and asks them to continue investigating, then drinks with them until she falls asleep on her office couch and is carried to bed.

Leone

A contact of Seris who provides body disposal and funerary services. She charges the party 20 gold to remove and bury seven corpses from the Eomane estate.

Zach

A pirate previously encountered in the lost library, found passed out face-down at the bar in Rat's Run, nearly drowning in his spilt beer.

Yerna Goldtooth

An orc woman and bartender at Rat's Run who Shane recognizes. She directs the party to Korrilla's booth along the west side of the establishment.

Korrilla

A gold dwarf infernalist and warlock who meets the party in a private booth at Rat's Run. She is reading a small black book with sharp points and edges. She explains the Calamus Pactum's significance, uses a soul coin and spellbone to summon Vhale the Assessor, and arranges the appraisal in exchange for the party's future protection on a three-day venture.

Vhale, the Assessor

An erinyes antiquarian who appears in black robes when summoned by Korrilla. She transports the party to her office in Dis, authenticates the Calamus Pactum using a golden scale and a blackened heart, reveals its history and powers, issues a Certificate of Authenticity naming the party as joint owners, and safely returns them to the material plane. Her eyes go perfectly black while writing.

Rhaegra

A pirate woman at Rat's Run who watches the party closely from the moment they enter, and continues to observe them after they return from their planar journey to Dis.

Locations

Eomane House

A noble estate in the Upper City where the party is currently staying after a violent confrontation with the Eomane family. It features a mudroom filled with servant corpses, an office where Valeria conducted her investigation, and multiple bedrooms being claimed by party members. The party discusses renovating the upper floors into a shared adventuring hall.

Blade & Stars

A bustling tavern in the Lower City where Vagnfríður works, frequented by sailors and locals. The party takes a short rest here and Vagnfríður prepares a legendary rothé roast for the group.

Devil's Fee

An infernal curio shop in Heapside surrounded by a wrought iron fence with devilish gargoyles on the fence posts. It is run by the gold dwarf Helsik and is known for shady dealings that grow more active later at night. The party visits to seek information on the Calamus Pactum.

Imravel Exchange

A Thayan trade enclave where Saresha Imravel resides. The party visits her office late at night to report on the Eomane massacre. Saresha's private bedroom features a gnome-engineered ceiling fan and crimson-sheeted four-post bed.

Rat's Run

A bustling, lawless tavern in the Sea Tower district known for its strong Guild presence and discreet private booths. The party meets Korrilla here, and the tavern's eternal flames briefly dim during the summoning of Vhale the Assessor.

The Ninth Measure

Vhale's grand office in the city of Dis, characterized by unbearable dry heat and a view overlooking an endless infernal cityscape filled with the sounds of crackling fire and wailing voices. It is here that the Calamus Pactum is authenticated and the party receives their Certificate of Authenticity.

Dis

The second layer of the Nine Hells, a sprawling iron city that takes up the entire layer. Souls condemned here are subjected to eternal, futile construction labor — building grand structures only to tear them down the next day.

Items

Watch Tokens

Small tokens collected by Velessa from the deceased Eomane family members and their servants. These are necessary for passage through the gates between the Lower and Upper City of Baldur's Gate at night, and the party secures one for each member.

Calamus Pactum

A floating, glowing red infernal quill found at the Eomane estate. Helsik identifies its name as meaning 'Quill of the Pact.' When uncovered at Rat's Run, it levitates off the seat on its own. Vhale authenticates it as having been forged by Asmodeus from the wing of a fallen celestial and used to sign the original pact with the Toril Thirteen. It produces its own infernal ink, its writing is magically permanent and resistant to dispelling, it can bind contract signers to a witnessed clause under threat of psychic damage and a geas, and it can compel truthful answers from anyone who touches a page on which a question has been written.

Letter from Szass Tam

A document bearing a signature associated with Szass Tam, found among the Eomane papers. When shown to Saresha Imravel, it causes her hand to visibly shake with fear and she returns it as quickly as possible.

Rothé Roast

A hearty meal prepared by Vagnfríður at the Blade & Stars using rothé — described as a cross between a cow and a ram — seasoned with various spices. The meal is so exceptional it turns heads throughout the tavern with its aroma, and Quillbit eagerly snatches scraps from the party's plates.

Soul Coin

An infernal iron disc about three inches in diameter, immune to all damage, containing a bound soul. Korrilla places one on the table as payment for Vhale's assessment fee. The party learns that soul coins are the common currency of the Hells and can be traded for on the Prime Material plane, though they are less common there.

Spellbone

A small finger bone etched with infernal lettering, recognized by Séantal as an infernal script. Korrilla snaps it over the soul coin to summon Vhale, causing the eternal flames in Rat's Run to dim momentarily.

Certificate of Authenticity of the Calamus Pactum

An infernal scroll written by Vhale while her eyes turned perfectly black. It records the complete chain of ownership for the Calamus Pactum — from Mephistopheles through various historical figures including Valindra Shadowmantle and Trentellar Eomane — and legally establishes all five party members as its current joint owners under the laws of Hell.

Blackened Heart

An anatomical heart kept in a jar in Vhale's office that oozes a miasmic black infernal soot that singes even the floors of Dis. Vhale uses it as a counterweight on her golden scale to measure the spiritual weight of the Calamus Pactum, and it is the only thing that balances against the quill.

Spells

Mage Hand

Cast by Velessa to open doors ahead of Valeria so she would not have to squeeze past the hollyphant's lazily flapping wings in the narrow hallways of the Eomane house.