On the 19^th of Plowmonth, we set out for home.  I tell Ulric and Briggette about the information I heard in town regarding the high incidence of tragic and deadly accidents amongst the nobility.  We know their children are well protected, but we will keep our eyes and ears open for further information.

It takes us about a month to get back to Heltragen, where we arrive to much fanfare and celebration.  We spend about two weeks resting at home, and Ulric presents Briggette with her missing scabbard for Helga which he’s had enchanted to cast bless weapon each time the sword is drawn.  The enchantment will last for five minutes each time it is used.

One evening at dinner, we hear, “Who are you, you twit?!?  Move out of my way or I’ll turn you into a toad!”  We realize that either Nicodemus or Silas has arrived. Briggette steps out to see to the ruckus and finds our new herald held against a wall by Silas’s staff.

“Uncle Silas!” Briggette calls and runs over to give him a hug.  His beard is partially missing on the left side, but otherwise he looks unscathed.  He talks about the work he’s done to find Brannick’s soul.

Suddenly, Ulric looks up and cries, “Everybody out!”  Only the chosen of Cuthbert remain.  Silas tells us that Brannick is currently with a soul broker in Tartarus.  He asks us to join him on the monumental quest to retrieve Brannick’s soul.  The evening is spent in making plans, as well as japes at the expense of others.

In the morning, Silas appears for breakfast, dispensing some words of wisdom versus our coming foes.  He teleports Ulric and Briggette into the castle Zurwald so they can go see Stefan.  Their arrival stuns the guards, but soon they are led into the elder Stefan’s great hall.  There, we make plans to travel to the other plane where Brannick’s soul lies and to take it back.

Nicodemus opens a gate to the world we must visit, and lets us through.  Almost as soon as we enter Tartarus, we are greeted by seven wyverns, but we deftly handle their attacks.  We keep moving, and come to a town where a human man greets us and tells us this is the town of Messis.  Messis, in abyssal, means Harvest.  He asks if he can be of service, and he directs us to Main Street where we will find an inn.

Once we arrive, we see that the name of the inn is The Comfy Slit, and its sign clearly depicts a woman’s lady parts.  An attractive young woman comes right up to invite Ulric to share her room, but I express that he is mine, and ask her to move along.  I request three or four rooms, and the barkeep sends two beautiful naked women to see them to their rooms.  While the ladies proposition the rest of the party, I speak with the bartender and find out where to find the soul merchant.  He serves me a delicacy for my people, fresh larvae, and I am surprised to find how delicious it is.  When I return to the room, Briggette and Laurana tell me that here the word is synonymous with the humans who have been sent to this plane by their deities as punishment.  I am horrified by this and force myself to vomit the remains of my “meal."