Lia thinks back to the riddle. "Are they currently paying for their room?"

Still quivering, Bentley stammers: He's not just a devil. He's THE devil! Bel the Warlord of Avernus, he calls himself. Lord of the First Layer of Baator. Been here for years, and won't leave until someone sells him their soul!

"Four buys huh, So one of us must sell our soul to the devil himself."
"Well, that sure puts a damper on the 'not getting hurt' part of my plan" Lok grimaces 

"Seems losing your soul will leave quite the injury" Lok hesitated on the staircase, before regaining his confidence, a resigned frown on his face
"Regardless, we have to proceed or all will be for naught"

The barbarian turns his back on the conversation and continues up the stairs

Lia nods solemnly, right behind Lok. "Thank you for your help Bentley." She pauses, waiting to see that Hatch is following them.

Throm says, 

“I’ll do it. Just help me know what to ask for in return for my soul.”

Hatch asks Bentley the one question no one else has so far - for this devil's room number. Once obtain he would quickly catch up with the others, praying under his breath that all his companions keep their souls by the end of this, even if it meant forfeiting his.

Quote from CalvinHahnII >>

Throm says, 

“I’ll do it. Just help me know what to ask for in return for my soul.”

 "You won't do it. Devils are tricky beyond being dangerous, and one conjured up by the goddess of misfortune? No. Most likely like the previous parts of this riddle this isn't as simple and straightforward as that. We'll run the truth down to the ground before we even consider the possibility of one of us losing their souls. But we aren't there yet, not by a long shot. Besides, I'd sooner behead you then let you spend an eternity twisted and tortured in whichever hell this devil reigns in," Hatch said, his axes still drawn, shaking with the promise of doing just that if needs be. "There are fates worse than death, and I won't let a friend nor an innocent experience that, no matter what I got to do. But for now, we jusy ask questions."

"Of course. I think there's been enough noble sacrifice and such so far. Let's not start making claims over having our souls taken... Besides, as Throm said, a soul isn't something you give away for nothing. That wouldn't be a purchase at all. If a soul must be sold, it gives us some serious bargaining leverage." Lia says, trying to be logical.

"Other than the staff and those of us who don't seem to be affected by the changes, have any of the other creatures continued to exist? As awful as it sounds, we may find someone who is willing to sell their soul without it impacting a creature who is truly living."

As the group are climbing the stairs, they see another familiar face. Kardinya is hurrying down the stairway, looking extremely flustered and red-faced, carrying several buckets of water. She almost bumps into the four of you, but sees you at the last minute, and pulls up short with a hasty apology.

Oh, begging your pardons! I almost ran straight into you! Oh ... I ... are you new here?

(I think by now you have realised that only Willagee, Kardinya and Bentley are the regular carry-over NPCs. Most PCs have dropped out, but technically they are all still here and all retain their memories. Other denizens, such as monsters, bosses and their minions, don't remain)

"Not as new as you'd think. Goddess of Misfortune cursed us so we can't leave this place without accomplishing certain trials, and every time we do get past one trial you, Willagee, and Bentley all get new memories." Hatch stated factually and bluntly. "Now we have to deal with this devil Bel fellow this time."

Lia is reminded of the first time they met Kardinya and smiles. "I'd say we're getting quite good at it, so not to worry. We'll have this curse resolved in no time. May I ask, what's the water for?"

With an exasperated sigh, Kardinya lowers the buckets to the ground and says: Ugh! Things are going crazy in here right now. There's a marid on third that's producing so much water it's leaking into the rooms on second, and I'm trying to collect it in buckets before it leaks through another floor. And if that's not enough, there's a banshee on second that won't shut up, there's bed bugs in several of the rooms on first, there's troglodytes fouling up the swimming pool, and spiders in the cellar! I can't keep up!

“Interesting. Spiders in the cellar ever since there’s been a cellar.”

"What's a marid? And banshees, troglodytes, and spiders. We know the devil has to pay for a soul, maybe one of these newly conjured guests or whatever may be the soul we're looking for? Perhaps we should put off meeting Bel and check out all else that's different first?"

Delmon sits up unfazed and says "I AM THE UNKILLABLE!" then stabs himself in the heart with a dagger and there is no blood only black mist that swirls out of the wound. The mist then goes to every exit of the inn and goes into the blackness outside then suddenly through the open windows and doors the patrons can see the outside...

Lia takes a deep breath of the very much un-misted air. "That sounds like an excellent plan. Perhaps we should work our way down from third, as the water is clearly the most pressing issue?"

(The heck Myasten_Arjen?)

"Sounds as good a starting place as any," Hatch said, agreeing with Lia.

Turning back to Kardinya he asks, "Can you tell us more about this marid water situation?"

"So we ignore this Bel guy and focus on other floors?" Lok questioned

"That would be best to avoid our soul being taken, but how do we use their souls?"

"In fact, if they are all conjured up, do they even have a soul to sell?" 

The barbarian glances up the stairs

"Regardless, I suppose I will follow your lead, my friends. I do not want to fight the devil alone." 

"Well, it's only a guess, but there's a definite possibility that one of these beings are willing to part with their soul for something or other. And whether they have souls, kind of too philosophical for me, but if they're alive enough to count as living, then they should have souls enough to count too," Hatch said. "Or something like it, probably. But this is all guesswork so who knows? Worth a try, better than going in without a plan."

He shrugged.

"Well that's exactly it. What is a soul? I mean it's a common expression to compare agreeing to something as 'selling your soul'. Perhaps he wants some kind of slave? You know, eternal servitude and all that. Or is there a way of literally harvesting somebody's soul? Stealing their life-force, their essence, or whatever you want to call it? And even if they don't have 'real' souls, he isn't real in that respect either, so perhaps it would still satisfy his needs, and therefore satisfy the curse." Lia catches herself and stops thinking aloud.