“We’re looking for my dad!” Corrin pipes up after successfully getting away from her mother’s hair ruffle grip. “Mama says that we could find him at Baldur’s Gate.”

”Maybe. Maybe we could find him there. Big difference, Cory” Amelia corrects, now fixing the tieflings hair. “We might have to travel some more though, to a different place, keep that in mind. It’s gonna be dangerous and what did I tell you about dangerous places?”

”Don’t purposefully separate from mama, and if you get grabbed, stab them!” She happily recites, the older woman shaking her head with a smile.

”Any who, what about you two?”

"Elle est tres mignonne!*" Jill says, with a slight laugh. "I wish that I could say that my cause is as personal as yours, but the truth is, I am just doing this to get some money to put some food in my mouth and have a bed to sleep in for a few nights."

*-She is very cute

Misha was amused and raised an eyebrown at the verbal exchange between the mother and daughter. She watched in fascination and, as an Acheronian, had no concept of mother or father, so said nothing about the child's inclination to find her father. However, they both appeared to be initially pleasant and friendly, and so relaxed and enjoyed the conversation.

"I am Misha!" Misha announces. "Hef been sent here to investigate posseeble incursion from Hell at Baldur's Gate. Hef never been! Hoping ees another opportunity to earn honor, and glory for my people! Come, I weel help you with your theengs, we are leaving soon!"

If they had any luggage, she would gladly heft them up into the cargo area of the caravan.

While Misha assists the two with whatever luggage they might need packed, Jill explains to them how she knows Misha and why they were having the reunion that they were earlier. "I met Misha a little while ago in a land called Atlas far from here. I was there for a job, for pretty much the same reason I am here now. We became friends, but Misha got called back by her people after a bit of time and I did not expect to see her again." Jill's gaze breaks from Amelia for a moment as she goes back into her mind. There's a sad expression as she's thinking. "So you can see why we reacted the way we did when we met each other." Jill snaps out of her mood when she realizes that she's still talking to the pair. "But enough about that. Let's get to Baldur's Gate so that you can find your dad and I can get money for food." 

TOLL ON THE ROAD

The caravan master checks his list, scrunches his face in mild questioning in noticing a few people on the list were missing, shrugs, and prepares to take off. The 750 mile, 45 day journey from Waterdeep, going south towards Baldur's Gate, was easiest to reach by following the Trade Way road - one of the largest traveled trade routes in the Sword Coast. Misha would spend the day catching up with Jill and talking to Corrin and Amelia. It was a warm day, and Misha was wearing nothing but a tight military black half top made of some form of tight fitting cloth mesh with a small logo on it's upper left chest. Her shorts, which were almost so short to be inappropriate, was also made of the same material. Her boots were also military grade and came up to just below her calves. She rested and talked lazily with the sun upon her, and she seemed to enjoy it.

As you travel along the broad, dirt road, you see a small cottage on the side of the road. It seems old and untended. As you draw closer, you also see a barricade stretching across the entire 50-foot width of the road. Two tall, broad-shouldered people stand in front of the barricade. The two figures look up at you and hoist their cudgels, practically in unison. The pair are dressed as members of the Waterdeep City Watch, and wear incredibly dirty and tattered uniforms. One, a male dwarf with a singed mustache, strides forward and holds out a hand to stop you. The other, a female tiefling with moonlight-pale skin and beady black eyes shouts:

“Halt! In the name of the Watch, there’s a toll to pay. 10 gold per head, for use of this road. Pay the toll, or face justice.”

Jill awkwardly looks at Misha as the City Watch holds them up. "You would not happen to have an extra 10 gold on your person, would you? I am, how you say, broke." She whispers.

Amelia raised an eyebrow at the watch guards, crossing her arms in front of her chest, scanning them both closely. Corrin pulls out her pink coin pouch but waits for her mom to say something before handing any money over.

Mothers intuition (are these guys actually a part of the guard? They bullshitters?): 12

"But of course!" Misha scoffs, as if the question was silly, "Don't be diriculdous! Here." She reaches into her backpack, and pulled out a small device. It was flat, black, square, and about the size of a half tile. It fit in the palm of her hand, and had a small slot on the side. When it flipped open, red Acheronian letters appears and she punched in a code. Within a few moments, it chimed softly, as if a request was being approved from a financial institution very far away, and coins spat out. Misha tilted the device so that they'd land in Jill's palms.

"Thank you for your transaction at Bank of Acheron. Please, come again? HAHAH!" she laughed loudly, almost shaking the caravan.

Amelia: The toll does seem to be a bit high for such a well traveled road, and the tiefling's demeanor is a bit off.

"Putain de merde, tu es riche?*" Jill stares in wonder at how Misha was able to produce coins from this small magic square. Jill knew that Acheron had advanced technology from hearing Misha talk about how she was created in the Genesis Chamber, but she wasn't expecting the magic money square. Jill notices Amelia being a mom and takes a moment to try and read the guards before paying up.

Insight: 22

*-Holy shit, are you rich?

"HA! Hef leemeeted supply of resources thet Misha can use for, you know, emergencies or unexpected times - like thees! Like, when you are broken!"

Jill smiles, finding Misha's continued use of malapropisms adorable. "Tell your superiors back home that I am thankful for this allowance." She hands the gold over to the officers. "Here is my portion."

The two Waterdeep City Watch member guffaw and let you pass without trouble. "Come back soon!" the tiefling says sarcastically as the caravan continues south along the trade road.

"Have a nice day!" Misha waves to them, innocently.

EPISODE TWO - THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

The next few days were largely uneventful, and the four passengers of the caravan had plenty of time to get to know each other and ask questions.

"So there I was, talking to arrogant noble, he tell Misha, he say 'I hef been to the farthest reaches of globe and have seen wonders you would never see!' Ha! So Misha say, 'Echhh! Beeg deel! Misha hef been to different WORLDS! So, i say to noble, I say--" But Misha was interrupted by a loud summoning POP and with the horrible smell of sulfur a small red imp from the Nine Hells appears directly in the center of the passengers.

"HHHH!" Misha gasped loudly and with a loud snarl, grabbed the imp around the neck with both hands and squeezed, her arm muscles popping out like steel cables and the imp clawed at her hands, it's eyes about to pop out of it's skull, gasping for breath.

"HKKK!! WAIT!" It screamed "NO HURT!! NO GHKKHG HURT!!" it begged, but this only made Misha squeeze harder, and the grinding of bone could literally be heard as she gritted her teeth and applied more muscular pressure.

As the caravan passes through, Jill has the sinking suspicion that they just got conned by some crooks pretending to be officials. She doesn't say anything about it though.

When Misha tells her story, she's attentive and has an absent-minded smile on her face until the imp pops up and Misha looks ready to break its neck. "Wait! There must be a reason this creature was sent to us. It does not appear to be attempting to kill us, so how about we give it a moment to talk before we commence with the strangling? And besides," Jill takes out her sword and runs it over the back of her right forearm. As it cuts the skin, blood trails on to it, the dark crimson liquid turning bright blue and glowing before it crackles into lightning that dances across the entire blade. "I can take care of it if it tries anything."

Misha reluctantly lets go looking at Jill with a defeated look, but scowls grimly at the imp like an attack dog. Just in case. The imp rubs it's neck and coughs, giving Misha a wickedly annoyed look.

"Name is Pip Kip." it coughs. "You all look like stupid sweaty travelers. Could help you out!" it offers. "You want to ensure your safety and comfort on this journey, don’t you? Can offer you great wealth and power!"

"And, just for the sake of humor, what do you want in return?" Jill said, extending her now-electrified blade at the imp.

"Not much! Pip promise! Just a little something from you!" Pip smiled devilishly. "Who's interested?" Six scrolls of paper appear, with a writing instrument, and Pip looks around to see if anyone is interested. The writing is written in Infernal. "Feeling generous, I am! Lucky day today! Want to see? Here! I even sign name first! Now, pick scroll and sign!"

If you're interested in a deal, a DC15 Investigation roll is needed to see what each deal on the scroll is. Those who speak infernal have advantage. Those who do not are at disadvantage.

Jill was naturally skeptical of this imp, but for the sake of humoring him, she read over the deal, hoping that she wasn't too rusty in Infernal to understand this. 

Investigation: 12

Jill gets frustrated at her inability to understand the writing on the scroll and tosses it back at the imp. "Connard!*" She waits for Amelia and Corrin's reactions before running this imp through. She also hoped that neither of the pair spoke Cormyrish and knew that she was using heavy profanity.

*-Mother****er!

Amelia clicks her tongue when they continue forward on their journey, her arms remaining folded on her chest. "Have I really been off the paths for so long? When did the tolls get that high? Plus the tiefling seemed off..." She muttered quietly to herself, irritated at how off her game was.

"It's okay, mama, don't worry! There's always next time!"

The older woman scratches the back of her head. "I hope there ain't a next time."

As they moved on, Amelia had been idly listening to Misha's stories while Corrin was enraptured by them, her eyes wide in excitement and wonder, asking all sorts of questions to the red head to elaborate more and continue story telling. When the imp popped out from literally no where, Corrin and Amelia both unsheathed their weapons, pointing their sharp blades at the creature while Misha kept a strong grip on its neck. For a second, Amelia could be seen glancing at Jill and how her weapon was drawn, the girl purposefully cutting herself... How peculiar.

When the contracts were handed out, Amelia and Corrin looked at them in disdain, but attempted to read it anyways.

Amelia Inv: 9
Corrin Inv: 21

Jill was unable to read her contract, and threw it back at Pip. "What?" Pip whined, annoyed. "It's easy! Don't have to understand! Just sign!"

Misha, of course, was not having anything to do with an imp from the Nine Hells, and just spent the whole time just waiting for an excuse to crack it in half like a walnut.

Amelia: 4

"For the next 10 days, you will sleep with incredible soundness. Whenever you complete a long rest during this time, you gain 10 temporary hit points which last until you complete another long rest. All it will cost you is four hours of restful sleep to be paid from subsequent short and long rests, and all your eyelashes."

Corrin: 6, 6

"For the next 10 days, whenever you touch a silver or copper coin, a duplicate coin appears next to it in a cloud of sulfur. This boon doesn’t affect coins already in your possession, or coins that have already been duplicated, or their duplicates. All it will cost is 10 gp and one of your fingerprints. Sign here, please."

"Cmon! Cmon! Sign already!" Pip moans.

"Only a fool signs a contract they do not understand." Jill says, waiting to see if she's going to get the signal to run this imp through or not.