DM HELP! I gave the Wizard Wish!
In my Curse if Strahd Campaign I gave my Level 15 Wizard a Wish Scroll because he had a wonderful idea and I wanted to give him the option of following through on that.
Backstory: The Fighter has married an NPC who, to save him and the party from CERTAIN DOOM, tied herself and Fighter to Baphomet in a warlock pact that was slowly consuming her soul. Through various shenanigans Wizard was also entangled in this pact.
The Wizard’s Idea: Use Wish after they defeat Strahd to sever NPC’s ties to Baphomet, sacrificing his own life in the process.
NOTE: The Wizard is fully aware that I treat Wish as a Monkey Paw spell where the DM has full reign to twist things as long as it adheres to the letter of the wish. The greater the Wish, the bigger the twist.
My Plan: As soon as the pact is severed, Baphomet senses it and rises from the Abyss to personally drag NPC to the Abyss, prompting a level 20, post-campaign epilogue where they get to defeat a Demon Lord and feel like big bad heroes whilst saving the. Wizard can join in because, although dead, he has been promised a role as The Raven Queen’s Reaper as long as he defeats Strahd.
HOWEVER...
The Current Shenanigans:
Welp. The Paladin managed to sever the bond with Baphomet early, meaning NPC was dragged to hell and now the party have to choose between saving NPC or saving Barovia as their next task.
The party are almost ready to face Strahd but, since so many of them love NPC, they’re keen on saving her from (what I’ve very much established as) Hell before doing anything else.
Wizard asked me (and rolled a 29 Arcana to know) what would happen if he used Wish to freeze time in Baphomet’s layer of the Abyss. His hope is that he can spare NPC suffering until they can defeat Strahd and come to rescue her.
I... I’m honestly a little stumped.
Any ideas from any DMs out there for how I can twist this around would be much appreciated!