Session 86

General Summary

• Marvin and Dwardazik sent "Barf" out ahead to distract the Ankhegs so that the party could safely escape the area around the ant hill.
• They returned to Overlook to ask Jim for help dealing with those trapped in Vicra's lair.
• When they arrived, they learned from two of Jim's necromancers, Myrrah and Urtica, that he had been missing for a while. Myrrah blamed the party for this, claiming that they stressed him out so much that he snapped.
• Jim appeared in a frenzy shortly thereafter, assaulting a random lady with a syringe full of some milky-white substance, which Myrrah turned back on him, subduing him.
• Once everything had calmed down, Jim was out of the picture for a bit, so the necromancers seemed to be in charge for a while. Urtica discussed next steps with the party.
• The town is currently dealing with a Beholder that's stealing their undead farmers, enslaving them. Silently, the party realizes that this is almost certainly the "Head of Heads", whom they had released while in Vicra's lair.
• When told about the souls and prisoners trapped in Vicra's lair, Urtica agreed that this should take priority over the Beholder issue, even though the town would suffer heavily from losing their farmers out in the fields without any intervention.
• Dazki apologetically explained that the fight with Vicra took too much out of them, so they could not help resolve the Beholder incident, which Urtica claimed is the same sort of "decision" that they had criticized Jim for making.
• W.E.I.R.D.'s reply finally came, offering to help resolve the situation with Vicra's prisoners.
• After a long rest, the party decided to get more information in Ashport before the next move.
• The party had one more conversation with Jim.
• Jim believes that the town of Overlook will not survive its recent losses, and he gave Dazki his vial of the antidote to Overlook's memory-erasing effects.
• Dazki plans to send Annu the coordinates of Vicra's lair so that the Turmoil infestation can be dealt with, but only with Jim's permission. Jim intends to give permission, after a short time to prepare the people in the town for what might come of it.

Full Recap

Dwardazik: That's not something we did. Someone might have gone through here; we should be careful.   Dazki: Good to know, as we climb up.   Dazki moves to climb, but Dwardazik stops him.   Dwardazik: I know we're all eager to get out of here, but listen. We're about to go onto the ant hill, and if you recall, there were quite a few ants there. Before we climb up, maybe we should have a little bit of a plan? We might have to fight these scouts, and something tells me that running away as fast as we can may not be the best solution.   Marvin: Fair. I can cast Fly on somebody.   Dwardazik: Hey, Barf. You're a good boy, right?   Barf starts wagging his tail.   Dwardazik: Barf, do you like the ants? The big ants?   Marvin: He loves ants! He loves to eat the ants!   Dwardazik: You want to eat ants? Barf, you want to eat ants?   Marvin: Get right up there! Get right up there, Barf!   Barf starts jumping around, excited.   Dwardazik: Barf, there's ants up there! Wanna go eat some ants, Barf?   Marvin: Go get 'em! Go!   Spider legs pop out of Barf's back, and he skitters up into the daylight.   Dazki: I can't say how much I disagree with this plan...   Marvin: You got a better one?   Grogery: I am incredibly hesitant to let this thing out.   Dwardazik: We're climbing this rope. Let's go.

Daylight

Grogery: We are going to need W.E.I.R.D. or somebody else to help move the wounded and the unwell out of here.   Dazki: Not W.E.I.R.D. The people from Overlook, and we're going to need Jim's help to disenchant the orb.   Grogery: He is not going to want to work with us.   Dazki: I disagree. I think he very much values bringing people's spirits to the afterlife. I think he'd be willing to work with us on that.   Kesmet: If not, we have multiple ways of "convincing" him, once we have a good night's rest.   Grogery: This is a town that's obsessed with not letting things go their natural way, and not getting over the fact that somebody died. You can take your shot with him, but I honestly don't think you're going to get anywhere with him.   Dazki: I really think you're wrong.   Grogery: Well, then, use that spite if it makes you more effective. This would be a lot easier with his help.   Kesmet: Guys. We can just ask him. If he says no, we'll figure it out.   Dwardazik: My only concern is that he doesn't do anything malicious with the souls. Otherwise, he does have some expertise on the matter.   Kesmet: I thought he only cared about the bodies?   Dazki: Yeah.   Dwardazik: He treated us well enough. It's worth a shot.   Marvin: Look at it this way. This is also his problem as well, right? The longer all this sits here, the more people are going to be interested in Overlook and the surrounding area. So it's in his best interests to eliminate it and take attention away from the local area, right?   Dazki: That's another good way of putting it.   Dwardazik: That's why we're getting favors from Jim, anyway. But it would be nice if he could solve this orb thing. I do believe, as long as he's not doing anything malicious as I said before, he might be able to give us some context or a couple of ideas. Can't hurt to have a second opinion on how to deal with this. Besides, we have to go there to get our equipment and our cart anyway.   Marvin: So, which way was it again? Oh, that's right, the finger.   Dwardazik: Ugh. I hate not knowing where this damn place is.   All but Marvin take off their plague doctor's masks.   Marvin: Oh... hey, Grogery?   Grogery: No magic left. We can vouch for you and explain that you have a cursed item on you, and we'll remove it as soon as we're able.   Marvin: Well, thankfully, Jim's the only person who's going to recognize what this is anyway, and he's probably going to believe us.

Dazki: There's something that we need to put in the next report to Annu. I think we should have everyone checked for possible Turmoil. We spent so long in the Turmoil Containment Zone, places where it was being used, and there's one person I'm particularly suspicious of.   Grogery: Yeah. Plus, we did end up having to cleanse that one Turmoil zone even before going in there, so who knows what would have happened in there too.   Dazki: I think you should make sure to mention we need that, to Annu, and we will not bring it up with anyone.   Grogery: OK.   Dazki: I know this is hiding information — something you're not entirely comfortable with — but will you agree with me on this one?   Grogery: Whatever it takes to have people happy and healthy.   Dazki: All right. Besides, we're not going to remember once we leave here, probably.   Grogery: I'm writing all of this down in the book anyway.   Dazki: Problem is, ink fades once you leave.   Grogery: I can write a quick note to check the group for... stuff.   Dazki: Once we get farther away from Overlook, it fades, right?   Grogery: It's a good thing I'm writing this down as we go into Overlook, and not while we're practically on top of it.   Dazki: Well, once we're a day away from Overlook, all that stuff may fade.   Grogery: W.E.I.R.D. remembered all sorts of stuff about Vicra's Lair?   Dazki: They remembered a few vague things about Vicra's Lair, and a few specific things about previous encounters with Vicra.   Grogery: Hmm. We might want to actually send a message to Annu before we leave Overlook, so we can properly inform him of everything.   Dazki: Yes, after we get there and sleep for the night.

Grogery: Whoa, Dazki, you're trudging a bit there. What's going on?   Dazki: It's... it's been a long, rough road. I need to catch my breath.   Marvin: You can say that again, man.   Dazki: Touché... so, question for everyone except Marvin. We've all been having conversations with Baxton, right? What have we been talking about with him?   Grogery: Well, he's been trying to get a rise out of me by comparing me to a dog and saying things like "you don't have any impact over this party, you're just serving masters" or whatever. He clearly wants attention, so I've been leaving him alone unless he asks for attention, and then I talk about things that are more relevant.   Kesmet: I haven't talked to him in a while. I believe that last time, he insulted me and begged me to stop something.   Marvin: From what I recall, Kesmet, it's not really accurate to call it "talking" or "having a conversation".   Kesmet: What do you mean?   Marvin: Weren't you just singing a song to him or something? And I would love to hear that song sometime!   Kesmet: It was a story, and it was an idea for a book.   Dwardazik: The main thing I've been talking to him about is trying to get information about the monsters that we're fighting and how to actually deal with them. As annoying as he is, he's useful in providing that information, but he also doesn't say anything about the "side effects" that you may have noticed. So I don't know how I really feel about trusting him, but you have to admit that it's effective.   Dazki: I've been trying to get information about Turmoil in general, and how and why he did what he did. That's how I found out the name of his former love that he lost to Turmoil. Like I said, I feel really stupid for not figuring it out right away.   Marvin: So, did he have that face before or after he got the hookup?   Dazki: It had something to do with his Turmoil study, so I would assume after.   Marvin: Yeah, that would explain it.   Dazki: And once we get to Overlook, we need to plan our next moves based on some new information we have. I think our "certain someone" should not be listening in.   Grogery: Fair. Also, something I've been meaning to bring up: because I've been in contact with Annu about giving our daily reports and what not, I've told him that there's this wildly Turmoil-infested zone — oh, by the way, we also need to make sure to get the soul beacon somewhere that it can get disenchanted, in case Jim isn't able to do it — Annu insists on knowing the coordinates for where the Turmoil infestation is, so that it can be properly addressed. I kind of agree with him:   Grogery (cont'd): The Turmoil has already kind of worked its way outside of the Containment Zone somewhat, and there's a lot of dangerous stuff down there that needs to be neutralized, and we have a town full of innocent people not terribly far away, and that town is purposely difficult to find. So if we don't get someone over here to take care of this leakage of Turmoil into the natural world, then it's just going to get worse until it's too big to contain. So I feel like we have to provide some information about exactly where this is, so that Annu can send people to help it, and they're probably going to stumble across Overlook.   Dazki: And you have no ulterior motives whatsoever, huh?   Grogery: Well, I wouldn't be directly telling them about it, so if there's an unfortunate side effect... the real question is whether or not we let the people of Overlook know, so that they can pick up and move elsewhere?   Dazki: If we're going to do that — and I agree that we should — then we absolutely need to inform Jim. He's been nothing but helpful for us, even if some of us (probably all of us) disagree with certain aspects of the city he is in.   Marvin: Uncultured piece of shit, that guy.   Dwardazik: Didn't we make some kind of promise that we would try and not involve people in his town?   Dazki: We did.   Grogery: We promised that we wouldn't reveal the location of this town to other people.   Marvin: Well, is Annu really "people"? Let's be honest.   Grogery: Annu is a different sort of undead than the kind infesting that city, but it wouldn't surprise me if Annu felt sympathy...   Marvin: The way you describe this guy, he sounds more like a machine.   Grogery: He is more of a machine, but he's not entirely without free will. There are undead that have some ability to think for themselves.   Dwardazik: Annu certainly thinks for himself, as he follows orders...   Marvin: Guys, I'm gonna be honest, I don't remember making any promises to fucking Jim Socks, OK? I can't even remember what I had for breakfast when we were there.   Dazki: I'm pretty sure we did promise him we wouldn't involve anyone else in his little town.   Marvin: I don't know how he expects us to remember this stuff, what with the side effects of the town.   Grogery: I have an idea for how to deal with this. So, the main thing that I have a problem with in this town is that Jim is very clearly immune to the effects that are making everybody else high. I believe that if people were more clearheaded, then they would see the aspects of this town that are not sustainable, and that are unwise to do. If more people were provided that resource to think clearly, then more people would leave of their own volition, and the town would pass away naturally. I wonder if there's a way where we could go, "hey, just so you know, in a very short amount of time, this guy is definitely going to be in the area", and then offer them some help to re-settle somewhere else, under the condition that they provide this cure to people so that they can actually think for themselves?   Dazki: What are you offering him in return, Grogery? This sounds like a threat.   Grogery: I don't really know...   Dazki: If we want to do that — and I agree we should! — then we would need to be able to offer an alternative. Otherwise, you're just making threats and demands, and quite frankly, we're not in a position to do that. We need his help.   Marvin: What if Annu can just solve the soul geyser problem?   Dazki: Maybe, but do we want to risk leaving this people there? Beyond that, Annu's kind of a robot. He's not particularly adept at doing much other than, "these people might have been contaminated by Turmoil, maybe I should just destroy them".   Grogery: I have no evidence to support this, but it seems entirely likely that he can't leave the city. He probably sends agents or elementals out to deal with things outside of the city's radius. So he probably wouldn't come out here anyway.   Editor's note: not sure if this was intended to just be an in-character memory lapse... in case it was out-of-character too, he did tell you in Session 58, search for the word "quarry".   Dazki: Also, you know what I remember? Annu can't deal with souls. It's explicitly forbidden from him. So he can't do anything with this.   Marvin: That seems strange. Why?   Dazki: I don't know. He also could not tell us why.   Grogery: He was not allowed to tell us why.   Marvin: So, he can't touch souls?   Grogery: It is "outside of his jurisdiction", so he has said.   Dazki: As far as we know, he cannot do anything with souls.   Marvin: Very vague, and very strange.   Dwardazik: This is some weird-ass talk, guys. We're talking about souls like you could just use 'em like wood.   Grogery: I know, it skeeves me out.   Marvin: To be fair, that is what Vicra was doing. He was burning souls for fuel.   Dwardazik: The only place my soul should be is either in me, or in the earth / funeral / (points above) / (points below) / whatever the hell you believe in.   Grogery: So either in your body, or in your final resting place.   Marvin: You have such a way with words, Dwardazik.   Dwardazik: Thanks.   Grogery: So we are definitely going to need Jim's help with this. Ugh... we need him to do so many things...   Dwardazik: All I know is that Jim was a good host. As I said, I'm going to respect his wishes. I don't agree with everything he's done, but frankly, we need more allies than enemies.   Dazki: I agree with you there, Dwardazik.   Dwardazik: And I don't expect everyone to agree with me. (He looks over at Grogery) We all gotta make our own choices, here.   Marvin: Let's just be sure that we actually do inform Annu about the ant hill. I'll be honest, this fuckin' Jimbo might actually just take over the Turmoil shit, now that the boss is gone.   Grogery: I don't think he's THAT stupid, but who knows?   Marvin: He is pretty dumb. In some ways.   Dwardazik: If we're talkin' about the Turmoil Containment Zone, it doesn't change the fact that there's a lot of it there. And so I do agree that we should try and get that dealt with. I'm not sure the best way. Maybe Annu coming nearby would be fine. Maybe Overlook would be... overlooked. We need to use this finger to even find it, right?   Grogery: We do need to give coordinates of the Turmoil base.   Dazki: The city is almost within sight.   Grogery: It may be shielded by ant hills or whatever, but Annu is going to want to be thorough in whatever elimination this presents. He would probably screen the area, "oh look, there's a town, let's see what that's about".   Dwardazik, with a facepalm: I can't think about these complex things... it's not my job to be the life or death of this entire town. I need a drink. He continues walking toward the town.   Dazki: Can't get a drink yet, Dwardazik.   Dwardazik: ARRGH, I FORGOT, THERE'S NO BEER THERE! He begins stomping toward the town.   Dazki: Grogery, would you like me to talk to Jim?   Grogery: Yeah, I don't have a lot of clout with him.   Dazki: I think it would honestly be best if you two worked together with the soul orbs, if we can convince him. I think your spiritual knowledge as well as his necromantic knowledge would be good. Plus, that would give you an excuse to watch and make sure that the souls do all get to move onto their final resting place.   Grogery: This is true. You'll have to be able to convince him be able to even to work with me, though.   Dazki: Yeah, well, worst comes to worse, we do have a bribe.   Grogery: What was the bribe, again?   Dazki: That necromantic book that we found, the Libram of Souls and Flesh.   Grogery: Ohh... uh... I suppose compromises need to be made in order to make sure that the souls make it to where they need to go. OK.   Dazki: Look at it this way: what would Pelor prefer? Wouldn't he prefer you work with someone you find distasteful and not leave those souls to suffer?   Grogery: He would help those souls, but that doesn't mean he has to like it.   Dazki: There you go. I'm not asking you to like it, I'm asking you to please do this for them. For all those innocent people.   Grogery: OK.   Dwardazik: I'd trade those people for an ale...   Dazki: No you wouldn't, Dwardazik.   Dwardazik: HUH? HUH? I didn't say nothin'!   Dwardazik: Damn elf ears...

Overlook

Dwardazik: Aww! The easiest way to get involved and to know what's goin' on is to just yell out, and say "what's goin' on"!   Dazki: We want to make sure it's worth getting involved in first.

Blacksmith: Well, which problem takes priority, then? We don't exactly have enough resources to split between the two.   Myrrah, rubbing her forehead: We have a promise to uphold first. But without Jim's guard, I'm concerned a more aggressive approach is going to cause more bodies to be lost.

Dazki: Wait! That's not him, we killed him. That's a cursed copy of The Mask of the Wasted Breath that we tried to use to deceive some of the cultists. It's not him, I promise.   Marvin: Yeah! And, y'know, the guy's a little taller than me! Just a bit!   Myrrah, in a furious rant: The nerve of you bastards! Who the hell gave you the idea to strut in here and destroy the mentality of a man who weighs so many lives on his shoulders! You know the stress he's under — you must've! he doesn't hide it! — and yet, you feel the need to remind him just how much power you think he has, just how much pressure he's under, to try to make things work out! Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep our civilization afloat? You don't! And yet, you waltz in here, flaunting your ideals and you blame the entire state of our culture on one man trying to do his best to give these people what they want. It's not true if you think about it for even a second, and yet you didn't, did you? You look for a "villain" you can blame all your problems on, and then, like the "heroes" you are, you proceed to knock the poor man down to a breaking point, even though there's NOTHING he could do to satisfy you! Did you even stop to question what the others want?! The other viewpoints here?! The desire to have others bend to your will, which created the need for this city in the first place, ... and now if we don't locate Jim, these tyrants... you're going to get the eradication you deserve! That you think we so deserve!   Dazki: Careful, careful. No one deserves eradication. Nobody. That's not what we wanted.   Urtica approaches, calmly putting her hand on Myrrah's shoulder, and says quietly: Priorities, Myrrah. We don't have time for this. You can't keep berating dangerous people like this. It's this kind of dangerous behavior that got us into this mess in the first place.   Dazki: Listen, we're not here to hurt. We're not here to do anything like that. We came from eradicating the Flesh Artist in his lair, and there's a lot of innocent people and souls trapped there that need help. But first, we need to rest. Can we help whatever problem you have, and then get somewhere to sleep for a little while? It's been a really long couple of days, and I need sleep like you would not believe.   Dwardazik: You'd think they'd be more grateful that we killed a badass motherfucker who was livin' just next door.   Marvin: Yeah, they always say, the grass is always greener —   Dazki: Dwardazik, please! Please. Let's not be antagonistic, OK?   Dwardazik: Just sayin', we had Jim's blessing.   Dazki: Yes we did, but Jim is only one person. He may be the de facto mayor of the town, but there are other people, and their opinions matter as well. So let's just take a deep breath and talk this out rationally without any unwarranted aggression.   Myrrah: ..."rationally". You think rationality is going to help now? We didn't think rationality was a solution before, but now we're going to speak rational? Now? Now we're rational?!   Marvin: The way I see it, there's a few options. You could have either not have let us kill the Flesh Artist, and just gone about your day like everything's hunky-dory and hope that things get better — which, it wouldn't, because the Flesh Artist is still your next-door neighbor — or, we just killed him, and we can do something different and figure things out. So what do you need to do differently?   Myrrah: I'm too busy cleaning up this extra mess. You solve one problem by creating three more.   Marvin: Can't make an omelette without breakin' a few eggs.   Dazki: What other problems got created?   Dwardazik: Wait, did that thing we set up not work? The Windbreaking Drill worked, right?   Myrrah: You prance out there into the deepest, darkest abyss to destroy what you think are villains — which very well could be villains! — but you don't stop to realize all this other smaller shit that us "smaller" people, it's a big deal to, all right?   Dazki: All right, so what did we miss? What was a big deal that we didn't see, and how can we fix it?   Myrrah: Well, you could start by finding Jim.   Marvin: He just up and left?   Dwardazik: Where's Jim?   Dazki: Where was he last seen?   Myrrah: What do you mean, where was he... in the town.   Dazki: Where in the town?   Myrrah: He just up and left in the night. He's around here somewhere, and if you guys wouldn't have put all this stress on his shoulders, and he's such an important man, with important duties, and so many lives hanging off of him, —   Dazki: I get it. But where, physically, was he last seen? We can't start investigating until we know that.   Marvin: Man, you'd think his little harem would keep better track of him.   Dazki: Or at least lead us to his chambers, or wherever he would normally sleep, or something like that! Because if you want us to look for him, we need to know more than just being bitched at.   The blacksmith, clearly not a necromancer, saunters forward.   Dwardazik: Ah! Fellow dwarf, could you speak some common sense here?   Blacksmith: I just... it's really getting heated over here, and I really don't think that's a way of solving any of our problems. So, if we could all just take a couple of deep breaths...   Dazki: Sorry. You're right. I apologize.   Dwardazik: You got any ale?   Dazki: Dwardazik, you know why that's a bad idea.   Dwardazik: Just askin'...   Blacksmith: Now listen, ladies and... I guess lords?...   Dazki: Just "gentlemen" is fine.   Blacksmith: ...sure. Now, it's true that there might be some evil things terrorizing the farms outside. It may be true that the only person able to save all those poor undead out there would be Jim. But we gotta, like, do stuff too, you know? It's like the lady said, we can't all be Jim, right?   Dazki: Makes sense.   Dwardazik: Ahh! We're going to war, then, huh? Gather your men! Form a conscript, and we'll march out and defeat whatever's there! That sounds like a plan! He gives a thumbs-up.   Blacksmith: Well, as de facto mayor of the actual town here, I really don't think any of the people would like to go out there and fight the evil and stuff, because I'm pretty sure they'd just kinda die. So, we really...   Dazki: So what is this evil that's out there?   Blacksmith: Oh, you know, just a terrible floating eye monster.   Marvin: Oh, is that all?   Dwardazik facepalms.   Dazki: ...OK...   Dwardazik double-facepalms.   Dazki: ...and what evil things is it doing?   Blacksmith: Well, like, it doesn't appreciate all the undead like we do. I think it might be trying to, like, enslave them.   Marvin: You mean like you guys are doing, right?   Blacksmith: Well, I don't think that's true.   Marvin: Hey, hold up. How come you three can remember things?   Blacksmith: What do you mean? I don't... what?   Marvin: I don't like this. Why is it that you guys can remember things?   Blacksmith: I mean, oh no! I forgot everything!   Marvin: All right, talk about a caste society whydontcha. All right.   Blacksmith: OK, listen...   Marvin: And while we're at it, you two look perfectly capable! You're Jim's acolytes, right? He obviously trained you with some arcane ability. How come you guys can't take care of this problem?   Myrrah: We would love to take care of this problem.   Marvin: Just shoot some lightning at it!   Myrrah: Not everybody can shoot lightning.   Marvin: Well, then throw a giant rock on top of it with telekinesis. I don't know what you do, but you're clearly capable!   Grogery: These necromancers probably spend so many of their daily resources granted to them by their god that they may not have a lot left over for things like that.   Marvin: Holy shit, they're one-trick ponies.   Dwardazik: Ugh. OK, I think we definitely need to have a rest, maybe check out the teahouse where Jim's been going, maybe gather a little bit more information, rest up, and then head on over to where these fields are. Can you tell me which direction it is? Down the south? To the —

Dazki: God, I am way too tired for this shit.

An Unexpected Jim-troduction

Jim: I was your slaver, and I will set you free! Don't fret, child, I will free you from captivity!

• Marvin rattled him a little by pointing out that he's gone so far in the other direction that now he's harming people now.
• Grogery surmised that he's "off his meds": even though he was always calm and collected before, he had said before that he goes to the teahouse to calm down.
• He knows the typical symptoms of overexposure to the Overlook fog — the mnemonic is "blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as a beet, mad as a hatter, and hot as a hare" — and this doesn't really match that, so it's not the tea from the teahouse that was keeping him calm.
• Dazki snuck up closer to him, but Jim spotted him and tried to lash out with the syringe before he could get close enough.
• The necromancers moved in to disarm Jim; Dwardazik was able to grapple Urtica, asking them not to do anything rash, but Myrrah was able to move out of sight.
• When Jim moved closer to Dazki to try to stab him with the syringe, Kesmet intervened and threw a Fire Bolt at him, and then Myrrah took his syringe and injected it into him instead.

Grogery, to Myrrah: What did you do?!   Myrrah, to Jim: The only person enslaved here is you, Jim. You are the town's captive. You are the only one who can't leave us.   Grogery: I can't really help him. Is he going to be OK? Is that the intention? Will someone please explain to me what's going on?!   Urtica: He'll be fine. With time.   Myrrah, helping Jim back to his feet: Come on, Jim. Let's get some tea.   Dwardazik, to Urtica: Is he actually going to be OK?   Urtica: He'll be fine once the potion gets back through his system. He just... he's been under a lot of stress recently.   Dwardazik: We wanted to ask him for some assistance in a little bit. Do you know how long it might take for him to be well?   Urtica: He should bounce back pretty quick. It's a really harsh substance.   Grogery: So what is it? Just something to keep him calm?   Dazki: It's whatever they use to keep their faculties around here. The reason some people can think clearly and most can't. Or at least, that's what I'm getting from this.   Urtica: Some people need to be sane enough to run and protect this city. It's... not exactly a pleasant substance, though.   Dwardazik: Well, crisis averted, I suppose.   Grogery: ...how expensive is that stuff to produce?   Urtica: It's quite a delicate process. We can only really produce so much of it here. We don't have the resources to have a large functioning bureaucracy like a lot of the other cities do, but we make it work. We make it work.   Dazki: Can you lead us back to the teahouse? I need to rest, and you can tell us about the, I'm assuming, Beholder outside the city.   Urtica: Sure.   Marvin: ...oh, I just realized... we let that Beholder out, didn't we?   Dazki: Yes. Yes we did.   Kesmet: Yeah, I guess you guys did.

Dwardazik, calling for the waitress: Get me something really mild, and not hallucinogenic or anything else!   Waitress: What, like, um, tea?   Dwardazik: That sounds excellent. He collapses on the table, exhausted.   Grogery: How are you feeling, Kesmet?   Kesmet: Still kinda tired. I've got a little bit of firepower left, but I could really go for a nap.   Marvin: I would enjoy a drink, but I can't with this fucking mask on. Alas, my tongue will never, ever, enjoy the sweet taste of this tea!   Grogery: I mean... unless... we just do it tomorrow? I hope you can at least sleep OK in that thing.   Marvin: I guess we'll find out! Clearly, Vicra did. Somehow.   Urtica slides a chair up next to the party.   Dwardazik, raising his head just enough to make eye contact with one eye: The name's Dwardazik Stoneturner Boulderhearth. Pleasure to meet you. He slumps right back down onto the table.   Urtica: I do believe we haven't met before. I'm Urtica Nettle, and that over there is Myrrah Phora. And, I guess, we're going to pick up where Jim left off? Until he's... better.   Dazki: Sounds good to me. Are you aware of what we went to do?   Urtica: Yes, yes! Is it true, then? You were shouting like you did it.   Marvin: I'm not wearing this mask for nothing!   Dazki: Yes, it's true. It took a lot out of us, and the reason we came back is twofold. There are many captives that Vicra has there, who are not in any condition for us to help right now. We're going to need assistance getting them out. Secondly, he had been trapping people's souls in these orbs to power his evil magics. We wanted to know if we could get help releasing those people.   Grogery: The Flesh Artist was trapping people's souls and using them like batteries, destroying them in the process.   Marvin: And we want to fix it, because we're the heroes!   Urtica: What are we talking about, soulwise, here? Where would they have come from?   Grogery: People who have died there — or, possibly, here. I'm not sure what range that beacon has. He has some sort of beacon apparatus that draws and traps souls inside it. With so many souls collected in one spot, it tends to make it so that if someone in that area died, then instead of moving onto its appropriate afterlife, it would instead be drawn back to the physical plane, unable to move on. I know of at least a couple of ghosts wandering around as a result of that beacon, but we can't destroy it without also harming all the souls inside.   Dazki: We were hoping that someone skilled in the arts of necromancy might be able to help us solve the problem.   Marvin: And look at that! A bunch of necromancers, right in front of us! What do ya say?   Urtica: Some of those souls could have come from here?   Marvin: Possibly.   Dazki: We don't know.   Grogery: If the range of it was large enough, possibly.   Marvin: If they happened to have captured any of your citizens, then definitely.   Urtica: This is very... not good.   Marvin: Yeah.   Dwardazik, into the table but loud enough for everyone to hear: Definitely not good.   Dazki: Would you be willing to help us?   Urtica: To be frank, I'm not willing to help you, but the souls and the people...   Dazki: Would you "help us help them", I guess is a better way of putting it.   Urtica: I am very much obligated to help them.   Dazki: Well, I know you're not doing it for us, but thank you.   Urtica: I don't quite have the resources right now. She glances back to Jim, also slumped over a table like Dwardazik.   Grogery: We left the people down there with some of the better-off captives. They have some food supplies down there. It's not a long-term solution, but we needed to come back here for Jim's guidance / assistance. ...and to also sleep off the fact that dealing with the Flesh Artist has taken a lot out of us.   Marvin: Yeah, our dwarf friend actually died, and he's still standing! Er... I guess... laying down at the table... would be more accurate...   Urtica: Oh, did he now?   Marvin: Yeah! Grogery worked his magic.   Dazki sighs and puts his head in his hands.   Marvin: Wait, does that make Dwardazik undead? I don't know!   Urtica: I'm sure all entities involved had proper consent.   Grogery: I can't resurrect somebody without their consent.   Urtica: Oh, can't you?   Marvin: Well, that's how you get undead, right? Yeah. So I guess that means he's not undead!   Dazki: The magic that Grogery uses would prevent someone's soul from returning, if they were unwilling.   Grogery: It provides a pathway back, but it does not force them to walk it.   Marvin, glaring at the necromancers (through his mask, but I'm sure the message was clear): You know, free will and all that.   Urtica: Well, then, what would you like us to — we don't have a choice in the matter, since you could easily destroy this entire town, so —   Marvin: Uh, that's not what we want.   Dazki: Just because we could doesn't mean we will. We don't want to hurt anyone.   Marvin: Phrasing...   Dazki: We don't want to hurt anyone in this town.   Marvin: Yes!   Urtica: Well, I don't really have a choice but to trust you. If we go against you, then this whole city would be dust again.   Marvin: "Again"?   Dwardazik, again into the table: Why would I want to harm this village? Thank you for serving me tea. He looks up. There is, in fact, a tea there, which he goes for.   Urtica: Here's the thing, all right? You'll find me to be the much more reasonable one, out of the three of us. And I know when we're on the back foot, all right? We don't have a choice but to do whatever you want, regardless of whether you're good or evil.   Kesmet: Sounds good to me!   Urtica: So, as long as you take responsibility for what happens as a result of what you want us to do, I guess we're just going to have to do it.   Marvin: You always have a choice. I just think it's something we want, and also in your best interests. It'll help a bunch of souls in need. C'mon.   Dwardazik, slamming his fist on the table: I am NOT going to take responsibility for your actions, just because you're too much of a COWARD to take responsibility for your own. I'll help you out, but you've got to lead yourself, damnit! He drinks his tea.   Urtica: I agree that, given the two options, we should direct our resources towards the captive souls and the captive bodies within the doctor's (now-abandoned, I would hope) lair.   Dazki: Yes. Very much abandoned.   Marvin: I even took a second mask!   Dazki: Except for the captives and the ones caring for them, yes.   Urtica: So we will lose the undead farmers to the Beholder, then.   Dazki: Um...   Marvin: We could take care of that first, but we're not in any shape right now to do it.   Dazki: Will the undead farmers last until the morning?   Urtica: They're mere farmers.   Grogery: That's a no...   Urtica: They will surely be enslaved, which is not what we promised them in the afterlife.   Grogery: If it is really that dire, would we be able to investigate the issue? I know a lot of us are quite tired.   Dwardazik: I'm sorry for your plight with the undead farmers and whatnot. Frankly, that's not my problem right now.   Marvin: That's future-Dwardazik's problem.   Urtica: I do agree that there are more total bodies and souls, probably.   Marvin: Let's make you a deal. How about this: tomorrow, we take care of Beholder problem. We scratch your back, you scratch ours. Then you guys help us with all the people back at Vicra's old lair.   Urtica: You can't take care of everything. You can't do it. If we save those people held captive, then the Beholder steals the undead.   Grogery: Are you implying that if you leave the town to go there, then you lose enough of a grip on your undead that the Beholder can take them?   Urtica: Once again, we do not have direct control over the undead here. We do not enslave the undead.   Dazki: What she's saying is the Beholder will have enslaved all of them and moved on by morning, at the rate he is going right now.   Urtica: Not all of us have the power or resources to do what you do. And we are very grateful that you have accomplished so much, but a town as hated as this, it requires a lot of tough decisions.   Dwardazik: OK, lass. I'm gonna give you option 3 that you're not thinkin' of, all right? Do you know, in general, the supplies of this town? Rare ingredients? How many healing potions do you have in this town?   Urtica: Not very many. We don't typically grow the herb used to create the potion, and traders are very rare.   Dwardazik: If you could provide us with all of them, and we see that there are enough, we might be able to deal with this Beholder tonight! Otherwise, I don't see it happening.   Marvin: Yeah, we're all in a very rough shape..   Dazki, sighing: We'll go talk to the Beholder, I guess, but...   Grogery: We cannot put ourselves in so perilous a situation.   Kesmet: She keeps saying we have the power to destroy the town... we really don't. We're gonna go take a nap. I don't want to go fix this Beholder right now.   Grogery: What's stopping us from taking care of the Beholder afterwards and (I can't believe I'm the one saying this) """freeing""" the undead so that you can have them back?   Urtica: ...the fact that the Beholder will leave.   Dazki: Yeah. It's not required to remain here, Grogery. Once it's done, it's gonna move.   Urtica: And it will never find this place again. Which seems great, until you realize that it's enslaved a bunch of our villagers, so...   Marvin: So, OK. Do you rely on these undead for your farming or something? Will you starve to death without them?   Urtica: It will be difficult, yes. But we've managed before.   Marvin: I hate that I'm even suggesting this, but the people who need help... I mean, they might be keen on staying here? They're probably the sort of people that, you know, aren't necessarily welcome in the rest of society...   Dwardazik: We don't have the authority to make that kind of —   Marvin: I know, I'm not saying or promising anything, I'm just saying they might want to join. So you might have more people.   Dwardazik: So what do we get, huh?   Grogery: If there are villagers who were kidnapped by the Flesh Artist and are like, "yes, I want to go back", or if there are bodies of villagers that might be dead and had whatever contract they signed where they agreed to be resurrected upon death, perhaps that might help. But we can't say for certain.   Dazki: I'm sorry. It doesn't look like we can help with the Beholder problem, in our current state.   Dwardazik: Let's say that we help you, OK? Even though — and as far as your military defenses go, the fact that you can't even protect your own town... it's somehow our problem... — let's say that we assist you. What do we get out of it?   Urtica: There's really very little we can offer you. But, to be fair, if you consider yourselves — and, I quote here — "the good guys", then perhaps you will show mercy?   Dwardazik: Yeah, I'm not going to be manipulated into doing this for you just because you want us to be nice for you.   Urtica: Then don't. You can simply leave.   Dazki: I'm sorry. We can't handle your Beholder. We are the good guys, but even the good guys have their limits. And right now, unfortunately, I believe that the greater good is to help the people that were kidnapped and tortured by the Flesh Artist. I'm sorry. I truly am. I wish we could help this village with the farmers. I do. It's just not within our capabilities at the moment, and I am truly sorry for that.   Urtica gives a weak, almost coy smile: That feeling? The one that you're feeling right now? Too many plates spinning, right? These are the sort of hard decisions that people like us and Jim have to make. So if you would let us make these difficult decisions, without chastising us because you think we've chosen wrong, that would be grand!   Kesmet: "Difficult decision"? It's not a decision. We can't do it.   Urtica gets up and walks away.   Marvin, calling back to her: Have fun having no culture!

Dazki: Marvin. Listen. I know you disagree with this. I disagree with it too. It's not our decision to make.   Marvin: I'm really confused. This isn't even a decision. They're asking something that's not physically possible, but then saying just be merciful?   Dazki: That's not the decision I mean. I mean the decision to chastise. Strangers coming into their town and telling them they're doing everything wrong. That what they're doing is horrible.   Dwardazik: We said that?   Dazki: Not in so many words, but especially Marvin and Grogery were extremely critical of everything going on here. For what may very well be good reason, but strangers coming from outside and telling you what to do, and making demands, on a small village that's just trying to survive, is not particularly helpful, and it caused Jim's breakdown with him trying to free everybody. We fucked this town up.   Marvin: The Beholder thing, OK, I get you there.   Kesmet: I was against letting the Beholder go. Just putting that out there.   Marvin: In all honesty, Jim had the right fuckin' idea. He's taking away everyone's free will that's actually still alive, and not undead. And only the important people apparently get to have the special coom that he was about to inject into that person.   Grogery: Only the people that are necessary to keep the system running.   Dazki: You're not wrong on that. I'm not saying I disagree with you. What I'm saying is, coming in here and being antagonistic made things worse.   Marvin: Things gotta get worse before they get better.   Dwardazik: I'm not so sure on that one.   Dazki: That's not how government is supposed to work.   Marvin: No, but it always ends up working that way. Look at history, shit always hits the fan before things resolve themselves. Takes an uprising or two to get things right, eventually.   Dazki, with a sigh: Thanks. I appreciate that you think that well of people who try to take it upon themselves (or have it forced upon them) to take care of others. I'm glad we're incredibly incompetent to you. Thank you for that. I'm going upstairs.   Dazki leaves.   Marvin: Damn, sounds like someone had a few uprisings.

Rescue and recovery. I assume urgent, but scale could be problematic. Can escort, but low on transportation. Will head out tomorrow. Directions vague. Create signal?

Marvin: Grogery, we should probably watch each other's backs here tonight. But, you know, if things play out well, maybe those two necromancers won't even remember anything!   Grogery: No, they're definitely on the stuff too.   Marvin: Oh! It all makes sense, now! Don't you see, Grogery? Don't you see? It is a harem! It was the coom!   Grogery: ...anyway, are you going to be fine sleeping in that? I can remove it tomorrow.   Marvin: Gonna have to.   Kesmet: You could try burning it off?   Grogery: ...no...

Dazki: Do we still want to have them come? We're getting help from Overlook.   Grogery: The more, the merrier.   Dazki: How do we get them here, then?   Grogery: Look at the direction the bird is coming from?   Dazki: Oh! Yep.   Marvin: Interesting...   Grogery: They don't need to get very far away.

Getting assistance from Overlook. Be on the lookout for Beholder, controlling undead. Follow bird on return flight. Be careful, good luck.

Marvin: Hey, so, if those necromancers do end up getting to Vicra's lair, there's a near limitless supply of bodies... is that good? Bad? I don't know how I feel about that.   Grogery: I guess we'll see how well they hold up to their own ideals. They say that they will refuse to reanimate a body that didn't consent while they were alive.   Dazki: Sorry, but I gotta meditate. This has just been way too much for me.   Grogery: I'm going to go check on Dwardazik, anyone else want to come out?   Marvin: Sure.   Dazki: You guys got it.

Marvin, faking being shocked: Such vices! In a conservative city such as this?!   Grogery: Dwardazik, you doing OK?   Dwardazik: Hmm? Oh, yeah. Just wanted some fresh air.   Grogery: You were gone for a bit.   Dwardazik passes the cigarette to Urtica.   Dwardazik: All good. I need some sleep anyway.

A New Day Dawns

Dazki: We do need to talk about what we're going to do after this. So, we have the map of the various locations. Dwardazik, do you mind taking the ring off so that "someone" doesn't listen in on our conversations? And then I need to send the bird out. I was supposed to send a message to them today.   Dwardazik: To where?   Dazki: To W.E.I.R.D.   Dwardazik: ...where are we again? Wait, what's going on here?   Dwardazik gets up and starts donning his armor.   Dwardazik: What is this place??   Dazki: First thing, though. We need to plan what we do once we leave. Like I said, I don't want anyone listening in, so Dwardazik, do you mind giving me the ring?   Dwardazik: Yeah, sure, whatever. He throws the ring at Dazki.   Dazki: All right, I'll put it in my pocket.   Marvin breathes heavily near Dwardazik, who grabs the nose.   Grogery: I can take care of this right now.   Grogery removes the curse, so Marvin can remove the mask.   Marvin: You're going to have to do the same thing if I put this back on again, right?   Grogery: Yeah.   Dwardazik: So, like, why are you guys... how are... where are we? How are you guys not panicking?!   Dazki: We're in Overlook. We came here after we took care of stuff at the Flesh Artist's lair.   Dwardazik: Well, yeah, I remember us kicking the Flesh Artist's ass. But, like, where did we go?   Marvin: What was the last thing you remember, Dwardazik? This place does funny things to your memory.   Dwardazik: I just remember walking away from the ant hill.   Marvin: OK, to bring you up to speed real quick. This place, this town by the ant hill, does things to your memory. You forget things about the town. It's just the nature of the town. It's dumb, we hate it, but that's what it is. You're safe.   Dwardazik: OK. Whatever you say.   Dazki: Hey, does one of you guys have the hummingbird? I thought I had it on me last night, but I can't find it now.   Grogery: They might be waiting until they're ready to head out before sending it on its return flight.   Marvin: Can the bird even travel that fast?   Dazki: What do you mean "on its return flight"? I haven't sent it out yet, have I?   Grogery: Yeah.   Dwardazik: Wait, how would you know where to send it?   Dazki: It's a magic bird.   Marvin: Yeah, you sent it already. Why are you guys being affected more than the rest of us?   Grogery: Might be a cumulative thing. Eventually, your internal health just can't keep up with it. Like, you know how dwarves are able to handle their alcohol better than most other races?   Marvin: Oh, do I ever!   Grogery: Maybe we're just really good at... "holding our liquor"... in this case.   Dazki: Also, I did shoot out, like, all of my blood yesterday.   Grogery: That is also fair. And you got pretty drunk too.   Marvin: You gotta stop doin' that. You gotta stop losin' all your blood.   Dwardazik: This place has liquor, right?   Marvin: Nope. Dry as a bone.   Dazki: Well, I think we have everything figured out. Let's go downstairs to see how plans are going after we figure out our next steps.   Marvin: We just have to wait for W.E.I.R.D. to get here, right? Or hope that they are, in fact, getting here...   Dazki: No, we need to see if we're able to get the expedition to rescue the people going.   Marvin: We need W.E.I.R.D. for that, right?   Dazki: Eh. It would be helpful, yeah, but we don't need them here. They might meet us on the way or something like that. First things first...   Dazki unrolls Vicra's Map of Exignis.   Dwardazik: Oh, I remember this map.   Dazki: So, what do we think for next targets?   Grogery: I think first, we definitely want to head back to Ashport. We might be able to do individual research and figure out if there's one area we can get more knowledge on than the others. Otherwise, Vicra and Baxton were getting their Turmoil substance from somewhere. We could probably deal a great blow to this organization by taking out whoever is sourcing all of them.   Dazki: Baxton was importing a lot of it from the ocean.   Dwardazik: Look, according to this map, we should head on over to Ashport, get restocked up, and have a boat take us all the way across the coast, down the river through those woods and that mountain, to that one X in the bottom-left, since that's clearly where they're shipping all their stuff from.   Grogery: Well, we've basically got most of the civilized coastline already. Another thing we could thing of: if the Turmoil was being shipped to other locations, Baxton was kind-of like the point of contact for getting more Turmoil. If there's an area that it was also getting sent to, then their supply chain just got very interrupted, and they would be a prime target.   Dazki: Our last plan was to go to The Phantasmagoria, because that's where Dr. Perry was going.   Dwardazik: I don't disagree with that. We could also take the river down to get there. We can make our way back over to Ashport, get our supplies, and charter a boat down that direction.   Grogery: There's no reason why we couldn't start heading for purple and make a decision once we get into green's territory.   Dazki: Sounds like we have a good working plan. If anyone asks, we don't tell them about this map, and we're just heading to the Phantasmagoria. Grogery, I think you need to check in with Annu?   Grogery: Yes.   Marvin: Right. Because just going to the Phantasmagoria is just something that people do all the time.   Grogery: Annu was asking for coordinates of the Turmoil-affected area.   Marvin: How do we even describe that to Annu?   Dwardazik: Can't say I was counting my steps.   Grogery: We need essentially a map of the area, but maps of the area don't exactly exist.   Dazki: And talk to Jim, see what he wants to do about it.   Marvin: Where is Jim?   Grogery: Perhaps Jim could provide us some way of informing Annu of where this is. We need to get those people out of there, and we need to fix the Turmoil that's down there.   Dazki: Yep. And we need to respect the autonomy of this city, too, so we should consult with Jim and his two ladies.   Dwardazik: He's probably around here somewhere.   Dazki: Let's go check downstairs.

JIM-Toxicated Again

Marvin: So, uh, Jimbo! You got that good Kush yesterday? What is that shit, huh?   Jim: ...what do you need?   Marvin: I want to know what that shit was! That white stuff! You holdin' out?   Jim: It's an antidote to the Bewilderburr that infects this area.   Marvin: It's like you chose the most inconvenient place to set up a town.   Dwardazik: I guess it depends on what you want out of a town, eh?   Marvin: Deliberate.   Grogery: We're not here to be antagonistic.   Marvin: I'm just speaking from a practical standpoint. That is really impractical!   Dazki: Let's move past this.   Dwardazik: What happened last night, Jim?   Marvin: Yeah. You feelin' all better? What's goin' on?   Dwardazik: Is the Beholder still there?   Jim: I don't believe so.   Dwardazik: Was it defeated?   Jim: Unless it defeated itself, I don't imagine so.   Kesmet: Wait, that's possible?   Dwardazik: All right. So what are the numbers?   Jim: What do you mean? Why do you care, now?   Dazki: It's not that we didn't care before. It's that we were unable to help. We had killed Vicra mere hours before, and it took everything we had to do it. So I apologize that we couldn't help with the Beholder as well, but, like you, our own resources are also limited.   Dwardazik: Actually, he's got a point. I really don't actually care. I was just trying to make some small talk...   Dazki: No? Well, I do care, and I really am sorry. I wish we could have. How much have your acolytes filled you in on?   Jim: I'm fairly informed. I've been working with them early last night.   Dwardazik: Damn, it's not my job to save everyone!   Dwardazik leaves in a huff. He disappears for a short while, reappearing near the doorway a few minutes later, smoking a cigarette.   Dazki: Will you please help us? Please — not even us, will you please help the people that are trapped? Because I know we have unfairly made trouble in your town, and we have caused unnecessary strife here, and for that, I apologize. I know, paltry as it sounds, it doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot, but I truly, truly am sorry. And please do not take your anger, or your disgust, or even your dislike of myself and my companions out on the innocents that need to be rescued. Please. He bows deeply.   Jim: I am nobody to be bowed to. And I do not intend to leave anybody requiring help unaided. We never have, here, in Overlook. And, so, preparations have already been made to travel out to the old lair of Doctor Vicra Lammergeyer.   Dazki: Thank you. You truly are a good man. At least, in my assessment of such things, for what that's worth to you.   Jim keeps glancing between the party and the vial he has on the table, clearly distracted.   Dazki: So, what would you like to do about that?   Jim: There are so few people here holding this whole ship together. Perhaps —much like the finite lifespan that we all inevitably face — so, too, must a location age and die.   Dazki: I'm sorry. Loss is not easy, and there are many here whose lives, I'm sure, have been made better than what they may have been outside of the city, but it's brave of you to be willing to make that change when the time is right. I'm sorry that the realization may have come from difficult or inconvenient sources. How can we help with the preparations?   Jim: Well, if a city is to die from natural causes, then perhaps we simply let go of the life support. The veil that hides it. Let nature reclaim what it wants.   Dazki: How would that be done? Just as simple as, "stop concentrating on the magic", or would there be something more that needs to be taken care of?   Jim: The city is borne from divine intervention, and — as is becoming increasingly more obvious — I am but a man. But, there are others stronger than me, stronger than you. Maybe we just let more know that there are areas to plunder here.   Dazki: Then, would it be acceptable to you if we sent out a message to people who are intent on destroying Turmoil, to give them the coordinates of Vicra's lair? We will not do this without your permission, but we do believe it's beneficial to help protect everyone. Again, if you say no, then we won't.   Jim: Letting the lawmakers know we're here... it wouldn't just ruin the city, but many of the inhabitants here are unwanted.   Dazki: It would take weeks for them to get here.   Grogery: Not to mention that the person directing such people, upholding the law, would not be within his jurisdiction. He would have no reason to do anything other than make sure that the sources of Turmoil there are properly dealt with. But it would lead to people being in the area.   Marvin: Yeah, from everything I've heard, Annu's got a pretty one-track mind. He's gonna take care of Turmoil, clap his hands together, wash off the dust, and go back to doin' what he was doin'.   Jim: Annu? Still around, then?   Dazki: In some form, yes, as an undead. I don't know how you knew him?   Grogery: He wouldn't be that old, to know him as a living thing... Annu died hundreds of years ago.   Jim: I must inquire why you know that name?   Marvin: I mean, he's a government official in Ashport.   Jim: What do you mean, he's a government official in Ashport?   Grogery: We mean, he's a government official. In Ashport.   Kesmet: He's employed. By the Ashport Government. In an official capacity.   Grogery: He's been demoted recently, due to Ashport going through some political upheaval, let's say.   Jim: You must understand my confusion. This entity isn't a government official, it's a prisoner.   Dazki: That makes a lot of sense.   Jim: It's held captive, within The Albatross.   Dazki: Not anymore. It has... "been given work release", I suppose is the polite way of putting it. It is no longer in The Albatross, in exchange for working to remove Turmoil.   Kesmet: Well, now it's more like a pigeon dove instead of an albatross, but it's whatever.   Jim: I believe we've gotten off-topic. There are lives at stake, here. I apologize.   Marvin: Yeah, so, what's going to happen is, he's going to bring his lackeys —   Grogery: send his lackeys. Possibly elementals or things powered by them.   Marvin: — yeah, he's gonna stay in Ashport. Things are gonna come, they're gonna destroy all the Turmoil, and then they're gonna leave. Pretty much it.   Dazki: Do we have your permission to give the location of Vicra's lair, for that purpose?   Jim: Do I get time to inform the residents here of the upheaval?   Grogery: It took us a week to get here, and we're a small group of people traveling relatively light.   Marvin: Well, I don't know if he's gonna teleport shit here.   Dazki: We will wait until you are ready, before informing him.   Grogery: ...Annu's not going to like that, but...   Dazki: Annu can kiss my elven ass.   Grogery: ...you're not the one who has to answer his phone...   Dazki: Give me the phone, and I will. I can absolutely communicate with him.   Grogery: ...OK. He does.   Jim: I've been debating this within myself for a while now. This vial, here. The antidote. It's not pleasant, but it does counteract the divine intervention here, the plague of Bewilderburr. Perhaps the more people that know of this place, the world itself will decide if it should exist in this now-changed world. Would you like to remember? Because I don't think I would.   Dazki: I would.   Jim shoves the vial across the table to Dazki.   Dazki: Once we are ready to leave here for good. Thank you. Dazki puts the vial in his pouch.