![[Assets/Headers/Chains of Asmodeus — Party in Avernus.png]] # ⛓️ Chains of Asmodeus > *"The first layer of Hell is not fire and brimstone. It is bureaucracy, ambition, and the slow realization that every bargain has already been paid for."* Welcome to the **Chains of Asmodeus** campaign wiki — a DM reference hub for the ongoing descent into **Avernus**, first layer of the Nine Hells. The party, currently at **Level 11**, navigates infernal politics, demonic incursions, and the desperate search for a lost phylactery. --- ## 🗺️ The Campaign --- ## 📜 Session Notes > Every published session page opens with original, spoiler-safe artwork inspired by that session's events. The September 3, 10 and 17 headers depict the defeated hezrou outside the nest, the awakening hatchery, and the salmon amid fire and spelllight. | Date | Session | Status | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------- | | [[2026-09-17 — A Salmon, a Grease Fire & Jeremy Split in Two\|2026-09-17]] | A Salmon, a Grease Fire & Jeremy Split in Two | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-09-10 — Jeremy Wakes the Hatchery\|2026-09-10]] | Jeremy Wakes the Hatchery | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-09-03 — Five Jeremys Down & the Curse in the Flesh\|2026-09-03]] | Five Jeremys Down & the Curse in the Flesh | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-08-19 — Bob's First Blood & the Demon Nest\|2026-08-19]] | Bob's First Blood & the Demon Nest | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-08-12 — The Horn, the Flesh & the Shredwings\|2026-08-12]] | The Horn, the Flesh & the Shredwings | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-07-29 — The Whispering Mace & the Horn Thief\|2026-07-29]] | The Whispering Mace & the Horn Thief | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-07-22 — Blood and Oozes in the War-Slough\|2026-07-22]] | Blood and Oozes in the War-Slough | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-07-15 — The Devil's Disguise at the Sentry Tower\|2026-07-15]] | The Devil's Disguise at the Sentry Tower | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-07-08 — The Devil's Bargain at the War-Slough Gate\|2026-07-08]] | The Devil's Bargain at the War-Slough Gate | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-07-01 — The Great Distraction & the River Styx\|2026-07-01]] | The Great Distraction & the River Styx | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-06-24 — Avernus & the Phylacteries\|2026-06-24]] | Avernus & the Phylacteries | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-06-18 — Nine Hells Ambush & the Shattered Soul Coin\|2026-06-18]] | Nine Hells Ambush & the Shattered Soul Coin | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-06-04 — Soul Coins, Infernal Hazards & the Green Abishai\|2026-06-04]] | Soul Coins, Infernal Hazards & the Green Abishai | ✅ Complete | | [[2026-05-27 — Parley with Baphomet & the Infernal Train Depot\|2026-05-27]] | Parley with Baphomet & the Infernal Train Depot | ✅ Complete | --- ## 🧙 Player Characters | Character | Player | Class | Race | Soul Objective | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------- | ---------- | ----------------------------- | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Tahara Rahma\|Tahara Rahma]] | Timmy | Grave Cleric 11 | Dhampir | Mother — Malbolge (6) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Ara-Ara Avannatto\|Ara-Ara Avannatto]] | Faith | Life Cleric 11 | Satyr | Brother Oruo — Avernus (1) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Casanova Frankenstein\|Casanova Frankenstein]] | Connor | Alchemist Artificer 11 | Kobold | Mentor — Malbolge (6) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Celeste Valentin\|Celeste Valentin]] | Gabe | Champion Fighter 11 | Centaur | Student — Cania (8) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Unit-NULL\|Unit-NULL]] | Jess | Oath of Redemption Paladin 11 | Warforged | TBD | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Lilly Pallywally\|Lilly Pallywally]] | Lee | Watchers Paladin 11 / Warlock/Sorc | Deep Gnome | Oathbreaker — Stygia (5) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Dr. Herbert Who\|Dr. Herbert Who]] | Tommy | Transmutation Wizard 11 | Owlin | Business Partner — Stygia (5) | | [[Reference/Campaign/Characters/Damon Charles\|Damon Charles]] | Micky | Devotion Paladin 11 | Goliath | Tiamat (Takasis) — Unknown | --- ## 🔥 Current Arc — The War-Slough > *The War-Slough is a festering wound in Avernus — a battlefield so soaked in demonic ichor that the land itself has become diseased. Somewhere beneath the Heart at W3E lies the phylactery of Brother. The clock is ticking.* The goristro guards are dead and the prisoners are free. After a long rest on the River Styx, the party struck a bargain with a devil named Rex at the Slough's border: retrieve a demon-thought-listening horn from the Canyon Trove (W4) in exchange for ten soul coins, safe passage, and vials of condensed order. Rex marked the map with W2, W3, and W4. The party bluffed and disguised their way past the last sentry tower without a fight — Dr. Herbert Who polymorphed Celeste into a horned devil, who then talked the sentries into standing down entirely — and stepped fully into the War-Slough. A demon swarm, a nest of oozes, and two corpse worms guarding the cleared ground near the sentry tower were wiped out without a single party member dropping, and the fight cleansed the area enough for Tahara's Infernal Map to fully reactivate. The Canyon Trove (W4) has finally yielded its prize. Lurr the nalfeshnee died trying to teleport away with the horn, brought down by lingering acid and Spirit Guardians, and Unit-NULL recovered it. Casanova harvested two of Lurr's tusks and five teeth, but the party declined another hour of relic hunting after the War-Slough warped five of them: Tahara lost his ears and became deafened, Celeste's gait twisted, Unit-NULL sprouted tiny ear-wings, Lilly gained tentacle arms, and Dr. Herbert Who grew a whip-tail. The party chose to push directly toward the **Demon Nest (W3)** and Oruo's phylactery, but Tahara lost the route and a flock of shredwings found them. Both are now dealt with — one stayed in the Abyss after Tahara held Banishment for its full duration, and the other was dragged out of the air by Ara-Ara's Lightning Lure, grappled flat by Celeste, and killed with the blood mace **Bob**, which spoke aloud in Ara-Ara's mind for the first time as the blow landed. Getting to the nest cost seven hours and seven escalating Constitution saves; Casanova arrived at four levels of exhaustion with half his hit points. The **Demon Nest (W3-A)** is a network of ichor-slick tunnels that undulate in time with a distant mechanical pounding, with faces etched into the living stone and dormant demons half-grown into the walls, fed by pulsing tubes. Beyond it, a hundred-foot rift drops to a seething **ichor lake** with an ant's-nest island at its centre — and **Oruo's phylactery lies at the bottom of that lake.** Rex's intelligence also came with a warning he'd neglected to pass on: demon nests are spawning faster than anything can kill them, which is how the War-Slough sustains itself. Rather than walk in exhausted, the party backed off, warded a camp with Lilly's Alarm, burned Greater Restorations and took a long rest. The Alarm earned its keep — the rest ended with **five hezrou** erupting from the ichor. They won it. Celeste snapped a neck, Spirit Guardians ground the summoner to dust, and Tahara rang the bells of Osiris over the last — but the Slough warped three of them: Celeste's bones turned brittle, Herbert grew a second pair of wings, and Casanova's arms became tentacles. Tahara identified the warps as **curses**: curable with **Remove Curse**, but permanent if the party leaves the Slough or lingers too long. From the lip of the nest's open maw they dropped down onto the **hatchery** floor, where hezrou and barlgura lay dormant on ichor-pumping hoses. Lilly stabbed the nearest hezrou — **Jeremy** — and every hose in the chamber tore loose. The fight since has been the hardest of the arc: a hezrou summoned reinforcements, Ara-Ara was driven to two hit points, and Tahara's **Antilife Shell** became the party's wall. Dr. Herbert Who turned a barlgura into a salmon, Casanova set the floor on fire, and Lilly finally split Jeremy in two with a smite-charged critical. The rest of the hatchery is still fighting, in the dark, to the beat of the **Ichor Heart**. The horn is still in hand and still undelivered; Rex still owes ten soul coins. ### Locations | Code | Location | | ------ | ----------------------- | | **W1** | Sentry Tower | | **W2** | Ruined Tower | | **W3** | Ichor Lake & Demon Nest | | **W4** | Canyon Trove | --- ## 📚 Handouts ### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Campaign Resources | Resource | Description | | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [[The Party]] | Who's in the party — names, classes & character snippets | | [[Party Soul Contracts]] | Who each party member is fighting to recover — souls & locations | | [[Session Loot]] | Found loot by player, all sessions | | [[Lost Souls — Choose Your Soul]] | Pick your soul — locations, sins & benefits | | [[Ramius — Conclave Contact]] | Your Conclave supply contact — visits, healing & magic item trade | | [[Bronze Citadel.base\|Bronze Citadel]] | Images of the Bronze Citadel -- Need to move these into their own location page | | [[The Party — Group Portrait (Prompt)\|The Party — Group Portrait]] | Current seven-member party portrait and canon-locked art prompt (as of 2026-07-29) | | [[Chains of Asmodeus — Party in Avernus (Prompt)\|Party in Avernus Header]] | Campaign-wide eight-member party portrait with the lost souls and Asmodeus's shadow | ### ⚔️ Custom Items | Item | Description | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | [[Claw of the Abysal Tide]] | Demonic crab-claw longsword found in the Guzzoline Wasteland | ### 🧪 Alchemy | Resource | Description | | -------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | [[Random Potion Table\|Random Potion Table]] | d100 potion table — roll and drink at your own risk | | [[Potion Mixing Table]] | Mix two potions — roll for chaos (d100) | | [[Potion Crafting in the Nine Hells]] | How to brew potions while descending the Hells | ### 🗺️ Maps | Map | Description | | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | [[War Slough — Infernal Map Player Handout\|War Slough Infernal Map]] | Player-facing infernal map with the party's current route | | [[War Slough — Infernal Map (Interactive)\|War Slough Interactive Map]] | Illustrated infernal map with roll tables — dice buttons work on the live site | --- ## 🌑 World Reference ### Factions & Powers - **Zariel** — Fallen angel, Archduchess of Avernus. The iron fist over the layer. - **Baphomet** — Demon lord of the labyrinth. The party has already parleyed. - **Asmodeus** — The chains binding everything. His influence is felt but not yet seen. ### Key NPCs | NPC | Role | Last Seen | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------ | | **Koh Tam** | Guide & barge captain — priest of Kelemvor | Session 2026-07-08 | | **Tiax** | First mate aboard Koh Tam's barge — put rescued prisoners to work | Session 2026-07-08 | | **Rex** (also introduced himself as Delius) | Devil broker at the War-Slough border — traded safe passage and soul coins for a horn from the Canyon Trove (W4) | Session 2026-07-08 | | **Two horned devil sentries** | Sole survivors of a wiped-out unit guarding the War-Slough's sentry tower; fooled by the party's disguise gambit and left expecting reinforcements that won't arrive | Session 2026-07-15 | | **Jack** | Devil casualty; a severed devil leg surfaced from a corpse worm and is believed to be his — served alongside Celeste during her own time as a devil | Session 2026-07-22 | | **Two watching devils** | Watched the party clear a demon swarm, oozes, and corpse worms from a distance and chose not to engage | Session 2026-07-22 | | **Lurr** | Nalfeshnee who claimed the Canyon Trove horn as his own. Died trying to escape with it after Spirit Guardians and lingering acid struck during his final turn; the party recovered the horn | Session 2026-08-12 | | **Shredwings** | Flying fiends that merge their talons into prey and share incoming damage with the victim. Both are gone — one stayed in the Abyss after Tahara held Banishment for the full minute; the other, dubbed "pee hole," was pulled from the sky and killed with Bob | Session 2026-08-19 | | **The blood mace ("Bob")** | Sentient artifact weapon found calling telepathically from a femur in the Canyon Trove boneyard. Claimed by Ara-Ara Avannatto. **Spoke for the first time on its first kill — a *"yes, yes"* in her mind.** Grants +4 damage on Strength-based melee attacks and a reaction attack against anything that damages the wielder within reach. True name still unknown | Session 2026-08-19 | | **Hezrou ×5 ("Jeremy")** | Toad demons that erupted from the ichor the moment the party's long rest ended near the nest mouth. Their stench forces a DC 14 Constitution save within 10 ft; passing grants 24-hour immunity. Defeated | Session 2026-08-19 | | **The wall-demons of W3-A** | Demons half-grown into the living stone of the Demon Nest, wrapped in pulsing purple and green tubes that appear to pump ichor into them. Dormant — they did not react to the party at all. Purpose unknown | Session 2026-08-19 | | **Jeremy** | Lilly's name for the first hezrou she stabbed in the hatchery (and, by extension, every hezrou). Hexed, blasted into a wall, and finally **split in two by Longinus** | Session 2026-09-17 | | **The hatchery demons** | Hezrou and barlgura grown on ichor hoses in the Demon Nest; woke when Lilly struck. Juiced by the ichor, able to summon more hezrou, and fond of Phantasmal Force. Fight in progress | Session 2026-09-17 | | **Baphomet** | Demon lord — conscripted the party as citadel bait; ongoing threat | Session 2026-05-27 | | **Damon Charles** | Paladin of Bahamut — swept down the River Styx; missing | Session 2026-07-01 | | **Goristro Guards ×2** | Baphomet's prisoner-cage guards — killed | Session 2026-07-08 | | **Fhet'Ahla** | Lost soul (child) — glimpsed via devil illusion; still missing | Session 2026-06-18 | ---