I will provide a synopsis of the last several of the games in the Nine Hells soon. The group has gone through the first two layers so far; today is the third layer, which is where the River of Styx transitions to the River of Oceanus. :)
The PCs continued their journey out into the sea. Barachiel, one of the seven servants of Lekshnael, came to the ship in the middle of the night. His demand was simple: hand Lucen over or die. The PCs, of course, were not willing to relinquish Lucen, and so a combat ensued.
The moment Barachiel drew his weapon, two creatures teleported onto the deck from the other side: Chronoteryn and the white-cloth wrapped, owl-winged woman Jor’el had encountered before. The Chronoteryn acted doubly, with one attack against Barachiel and his angelic soldiers, and one attack against the PCs. It did not take long for the PCs to deduce the white ninja fought on their side. Despite all this, the tide of battle seemed in Barachiel’s favor.
Several rounds into it, Meridiel and Omni appeared on the vessel and called out to the white-swathed woman. The PCs could tell Meridiel, Omni, and the woman knew each other, but nothing beyond that. Krelael stopped time during the fight then and asked each of the PCs: would they choose Lucen or Meridiel, if they had to lose one of them?
Two PCs chose Meridiel and two chose Lucen; this meant that the tide turned in the favor of what would have happened rather than what would occur with Krelael’s intervention. Barachiel imprisoned Lucen and then fled from the ship.
The white-swathed woman revealed herself as Sara, the keeper of the catacombs beneath the ocean; and one of Scheliel’s two souls. With Sara’s assistance, the PCs finally acquired the Silver Cords they sought, although Sara and Meridiel were not exactly on mother/daughter terms. Sara explained to the PCs that she was the soul of the wings before Scheliel was split into halves, and that her second half is in the dreaming world the majority of the Sterling Rebellion was cast away to. The bodies in the catacombs are the sleeping individuals lost to that dream.
Sara offers to guide the PCs down the River of Styx, through the Nine Hells and to the place in the Heavens where she believes Lucen is being kept. The PCs embark further into the ocean, with the intent to go through a rift that leads into the Nine Hells. The River of Styx, inevitably connecting to the River of Oceanus, is their best chance at recovering Lucen from Lekshnael.
