A Splinter of Iron
Overview
From the Strike Force "The Beast Beneath the Mountain" given by Virgil Tarikoss.
Souvenir's Text
A Splinter of Iron
It began when you found your way to Virgil Tarikoss. He wanted you to prove your power and your commitment to do evil, and had you break up a Legacy Chain divination ritual to do so. The notes you found at the ritual babbled about something that was in control of the Clockwork in Cap au Diable, something even Dr. Aeon might not have known about. You stopped the ritual before they could find out more, and proved yourself to Tarikoss.
Tarikoss gave you one last chance to turn back from his evil work, but you declined and continued. He sent you to a section of the PTS that was under attack by the Circle of Thorns. While there, you learned that something had caused a major drop in power from the PTS. Tarikoss seemed very interested in that, as if it meant something very important.
Tarikoss next sent you to stop the Legacy Chain's interference in his plans by defeating one of their lead investigtors and stealing a book they needed. The book, a partial copy of the journal of an 18th century Jesuit priest called Padre Henri, told about a great demon called Bat'Zul that once dwelt in the volcano after being summoned by desperate cultists. Tarikoss promised to reveal all, but you still had lingering doubts, and the warnings of Tarikoss's eventual betrayal spoken by the Legacy Chain's investigator hung in your mind.
Tarikoss told you the whole story. About how Father Henri had imprisoned the Arch-Demon Bat'Zul beneath the mountain, hundreds of years ago. About how Dr. Aeon's geothermal experiments had accidentally tapped into the fiend drawing tremendous power from it, and weakening the seals that kept it bound. And that Tarikoss planned to re-bind the creature to his will with your help, sharing its power with you. In order to go through with this, however, the Circle couldn't be allowed to maintain their control over Bat'Zul. You went into a Circle den, disrupting their rituals and stealing their notes. Tarikoss was able to read the Circle's strange language, and discovered that they hadn't just cut the link between the fiend and the PTS, but had actually moved part of the volcano's interior to another dimension so that they could bargain with Bat'Zul without interruption. You also found out that the hero Infernal had come on the Legacy Chain's request to help imprison Bat'Zul.
In order to find the sub-dimension the Circle of Thorns had created to hold Bat'Zul, you broke into a Portal Corporation facility, and forced one of the technicians to find it using their advanced detection gear.