Session 81

General Summary

• The party took a long rest. Marvin was on first watch, using the time to chat with Eyesore.
• Vicra is at "the doctor's office", which is "down the stairs". The stairs down are apparently underneath the sarcophagus in the waiting room.
• Marvin learned that Vicra has made many "modifications" to Eyesore, all of them painful, each one done to correct something that Eyesore did wrong.
• Contrary to the party's earlier guesses, Vicra is not a lich. He actually has spare bodies that his soul can go into when he dies, making a new one every time he uses one up.
• If Vicra is killed by some form of damage, then he will need to modify the body to become resistant to it. Eyesore doesn't know the details of what he's done this with.
• Eyesore seems on the party's side, or at least not explicitly against them anymore. He still won't go down to the next floor with them, though (he hates "bureaucracy").
• During his sleep, Marvin had a dream of an unlucky halfling in a Red Desert, about to get devoured by a giant serpent after stumbling.
• Kesmet was next, also mainly chatting with Eyesore.
• Though most of it was just idle chatter, Kesmet did strike a chord with Eyesore when he pointed out that, even though the soul is more important than the body, the body is not completely irrelevant: it's still the container for the soul, at the time.
• Their relationship is now mutually at the level of "I will be sad [when / if] you die", which is apparently the furthest that Eyesore has ever gone with another person.
• Dazki was next, immediately realizing that there was a ghost in the room.
• It was the ghost of Secretary, the birdlike cultist that Dwardazik had killed earlier. It only seems to be able to speak by perfectly mimicking phrases that it has heard before.
• Secretary seemed particularly interested in retrieving a Fossilized Melody from this room, often emphasizing that others would insult it for not being able to read.
• Dazki tried to convey that the cultists were evil, but Secretary reminded him that the party were "deadly intruders causing havoc", a point that Dazki could not refute.
• Dazki intended to spend the rest of the watch reading more of The Book of the Mirage, but Secretary possessed him. Instead, he was forced to spend the rest of the watch reading more of The Book of the Mirage, unlocking the secrets of the third chapter.
• Grogery was next up. During the handoff, Dazki tried to tell him about the ghost that had possessed him. He wasn't able to directly say it, but Grogery figured it out.
• Grogery put on Baxton's Ring of Mind Shielding to try to attune to it (forgetting that Dwardazik is still attuned), but Baxton is able to speak to him anyway.
• Baxton mostly just asked to speak with Dazki and belittled Grogery for still being a second-class citizen even in his own party, likening him to a herding dog: useful, but "a dog does not eat at the dinner table".
• When the party tried to call Dazki over for breakfast, Secretary made him try to run over to the lever in order to pull it, but Grogery managed to expel the ghost and then turn it.
• As the party continued their planning, Eyesore gave some more information about the altar in the front, which he called "the Soul Beacon".
• The Soul Beacon is used to guide the doctor's soul back when he dies.
• It also charges up the Fossilized Melodies by consuming the souls of those who are slain in this area. This is somehow tied into Vicra's resurrection process.
• When the Beacon is too full to trap any more souls, slain cultists return as ghosts.
• With Baxton's help, the party came up with a plan: force Vicra to use his "corrupted arcanum" at full strength by suppressing his cursed mask, then get him to "underperform" in combat and have him deal with the consequences from the Mirage.
• Grogery sent a report to Annu, and then the party opened the sarcophagus.

Full Recap

Marvin: So, this room is a dead end?   Dwardazik: Depends on what's in the sarcophagus. It could just open up to a stairway.   Kesmet: Why, though?   Marvin: Who knows?   Dazki: I get the feeling that it's more like an operating table.   Marvin + Kesmet: That could be where he's regenerating.   Dwardazik: I don't think so.   Marvin: Oh, come on! If you're a mad... evil scientist... doctor, person —   Dwardazik: Are we not gathering these "Fossilized Melodies", or whatever, to get to him? Why would he just be here?   Kesmet: Red herrings!   Dwardazik: Well, that's possible...   Marvin: Maybe we need the four things just to open the thing up?   Dwardazik: What about the altar in the beginning when we walked down?   Dazki: Also, ... what are we actually planning on doing once we find him?   Marvin: Well, how do you kill a lich?   Dazki: It didn't seem like that took, the first time.   Grogery: A lich will have a magical item known as a phylactery where they keep their soul. Unless you destroy that phylactery, it will keep regenerating bodies for them.   Dwardazik: Are we sure that Vicra's a lich?   Marvin: How else would he be coming back?   Dazki: Well, we need some rest, and we need some answers. So, why don't we kill two birds with one stone? Marvin, you're on first watch. When Eyesore wakes up, get some information out of him. Talk to him; he seems to be willing to talk to you.   Marvin: Sounds like a plan. I've got a little trick up my sleeve for that.   Dazki: Kesmet, you're on second watch. People seem to be more than willing to open up to you. You've proven to be very good at persuading people.   Kesmet: ...riiiiiiiight...   Dazki: I'll take third, and then Grogery can take fourth. Dwardazik, I think after what happened with the armor last night, you probably need sleep more than anyone else. So you get the full rest.   Dazki: While we're awake, our goal is going to be to get whatever information we can out of Eyesore. Any objections?   Dwardazik: I think that's fine, if we can trust Eyesore and he doesn't just poof away this time.   Grogery: This is where he went when he poofed away.   Dazki: He poofs away back here.   Dwardazik: Well, he poofed away somewhere. We don't know if it was here, specifically.   Grogery: He ended up here somehow, so I'm presuming that he poofed back to this general lair area, and someone had to stab him against The Shrike. It comes across that, if he fails again, he's probably going to end up worse. So, he might not decide to flee.   Dwardazik: The way he disappeared, was that from an item or a spell?   Grogery: That was an item he took off of one of the ragmen, and I don't see any ragmen around here.   Dwardazik: So, specifically from a ragman? As long as there's none of those here, and there's no hidden items on him (let's make sure that we check his pockets very thoroughly)...   Marvin: ...and check for ass daggers.   Dwardazik: ... so, maybe everyone can do a once-over on him, just to be sure?

They search him. He doesn't have much different from last time.

Dwardazik: Good, then. Doesn't look like he's got anything. (I'm so tired)   Dazki: That's why you can get some rest.   Dwardazik: We need to think. What can we do to this guy, the Flesh Artist? What spell did those guys not even try? What damage type is he not resistant to?   Kesmet: Not my flames.   Marvin: He's probably not immune to being crushed to death. Just blunt force?   Grogery: Psychic damage, he's resistant to.   Dazki: I think they said radiant damage, too?   Grogery: Radiant damage, yes. Most of the elements are still on the table, though.   Dazki: From what our companions know, yes. But swords, axes, maces, things like that are resistant.   Kesmet: Why don't we just keep on hitting him with stuff, even if he's resistant to it, and then eventually he'll die?   Marvin: Eventually, yeah...   Dwardazik: Are you suggesting we just bash him, over and over again?   Marvin: Why not?   Dwardazik: That's stupid! That's something I would do! Think of a better idea.   Marvin: I was just about to say that was something you'd do...   Kesmet: We bash him over and over again, while lighting him on fire, ...   Dazki: We don't know if he's resistant to mental damage or not. You're pretty good at that, Marvin?   Marvin: ...that's what I killed him with last time.   Dazki: Oh.   Marvin: Yeah. I got the giant hand thing, though. Not sure if he's immune to that.   Dazki: That's a good idea.

Rest is the Best

First Watch: Marvin (and Eyesore)

Marvin casts Charm Person on Eyesore and then rustles him awake.

Marvin: Hey, how's that giant gaping hole in your chest? You know, from being stabbed, by the big monster? How's it going?   Eyesore: Your friends are so stupid.   Marvin: What about me, though? I'm all right! We've got each other!   Eyesore: It's not time for you yet. You'll have to wait! You have to wait.   Marvin: I know, that's why I'm chilling next to you. I'm patient. Say, why were you stabbed on that giant thing?   Eyesore: 'cause we have to wait.   Marvin: Wait for what?   Eyesore: The doctor's not ready to see you yet.   Marvin: Where is he?   Eyesore: Uh, you don't know? ...you're so stupid...   Marvin: I know, man, I just can't get a grip on these things. You know how short I am, everything just goes right over my head.   Eyesore: Doctors have offices, right? He's at the doctor's office!   Marvin: Ah! The doctor's office!   Eyesore: Downstairs!   Marvin: Downstairs, right! ...how do I get there?   Eyesore: ...down the stairs.

Marvin drinks a Potion of Mind Reading.   Eyesore isn't currently interested in any additional modifications, but he'll get some modifications if he has to, to be better. But mostly, he would prefer if you guys did not go up the stairs in this room, to go down the stairs.

Eyesore: Hey, get out of there! That stuff is private! It's very rude.   Marvin: So, how different are you from everyone else? You seem different.   Eyesore: What do you mean "different"? I'm better! I'm smart.   Marvin: Totally, and it shows. But, specifically, what did you get changed? How are you better?   Eyesore: I'm better! I'm smarter, tougher.

Marvin probes deeper into how Eyesore sees his relationship with the Flesh Artist.   Eyesore has been in dark places many times. Down in hallowed halls. Quiet, smelling of bleach and antiseptics. Every time Eyesore fails at something, he is altered (against his will, most of the time) to make sure that doesn't happen again. When Eyesore did something dumb, the next time he awoke, he was smarter. When he could no longer properly survive all these surgeries, he became able to stabilize himself. It's not a pleasant experience, but he is willing to accept it: Eyesore needs to follow somebody strong. It's a survival instinct.

Marvin: So, Eyesore, it took a lot for you to get... smarter, right?   Eyesore: I'm so much smarter than ALL of your friends! I'm the smartest one! Your friends are STUPID!   Marvin: But, Eyesore, was it worth it?   Eyesore: I don't understand. Eyesore is alive. Not a lot of people can say that.   Marvin: That's true. There's only so many people who can say that.   Eyesore: Eyesore adapts.   Marvin: But would you do it again? Would you do everything the same way, if you could do it all over again?   Eyesore: ...I don't get it.   Marvin: Wouldn't you prefer to survive, without the pain?   Eyesore: I don't understand what you mean, though.   Marvin: Do you feel regret?   Eyesore: I hadn't thought of it that way.   Marvin: It seemed like you didn't really have much of a choice in the matter.   Eyesore: Yeah, the weak don't make choices.   Marvin: I hate to break it to you, Eyesore, but the idiots over there and me, we're not the ones in chains right now.   Eyesore: And later, you will be dead (or fixed), and I won't be in chains anymore.   Marvin: That's definitely likely, but would you really want this? You'd want your fate, upon other people?   Eyesore: It doesn't matter what I'd want. I was weak!   Marvin: No. You might be in shackles right now, but you still chose to fight us. That's not weak.   Eyesore: Eyesore lost. Maybe Eyesore is the one that's stupid!   Marvin: Eyesore, listen. You've had some horrible fuckin' things done to you. And it shows, I'll be honest. You would really want to put other people through it? You're not weak, you're just a bad person.   Eyesore: Then we'll fix it!   Marvin: You could help us fix it. You could help, and then no one would have to go through what you went through again.   Eyesore: What does Eyesore get out of it? Because the doctor's not going to be happy.   Marvin: What do you get out of it? You never have to worry about the doctor ever again! Wouldn't you like that? You can do whatever you want! Go exploring, find some big group of big strong gnolls to hang out with. They would love you, take you in as their own...   Kesmet stirs in his sleep a little. Perhaps the discussion about gnolls has entered into his dreams a little.   Marvin: Yeah! Now, there's an idea. All you gotta do is just help us get rid of him, for good. Do you know what a phylactery is? An object that the Flesh Artist might hold dear, but he wouldn't want anyone else to get a hold of?   Eyesore: Why would he have a phylactery?   Marvin: He's gotta be regenerating somehow —   Eyesore: NO, that's STUPID.   Marvin: But... he's regenerating, isn't he? How does the Flesh Artist keep coming back?   Eyesore: Ohmigosh, you're so stupid. The body and the soul are separate things. So, you kill the body. What happens to the soul?   Marvin: It goes... somewhere.   Eyesore: What if you could say where it goes?   Marvin: Like another body! ...right?   Eyesore: So, think about it for two seconds, all right? Like, two whole seconds. You are a miraculous doctor, capable of creating a great many amazing things. With the body.   Marvin: So, he just makes himself another body, every time he comes back?   Eyesore: Duh.   Marvin: So, that's it? If he were to die before he can prepare another body, or if we just get rid of all his spare bodies, then he wouldn't be able to come back?   Eyesore: I hadn't thought about it like that.   Marvin: Would you help us?   Eyesore: Help you with what?   Marvin: Make sure he never comes back. He would never be able to hurt you, ever again.   Eyesore: Um... He seems hesitant. Not so much out of defiance, but out of fear.   Marvin: We've already killed him once. We can do it again.   Eyesore: Even I've killed him once.   Marvin: You killed him?! What did you do?! Er... good job, first of all, but...   Eyesore: The body grows weak. He puts a bit of himself into his work. So, occasionally, he needs a refresher.   Marvin: So, he asked you to kill him?   Eyesore: It's kinda hard to kill yourself.   Marvin: Wow. Do you know if he's weak to anything? From what we understand, every time he's killed by some method, he becomes resistant to that after he comes back. Is that automatic, or does he design his next body so that...   Eyesore: The soul remembers what killed it. Modifications are made later.   Marvin: OK... OK... do you know how he's been modifying himself lately? Like, everything that he's resistant to now?   Eyesore: Honestly, I don't think he trusts me a lot with the information.   Marvin: Yeah, if I were him, I probably wouldn't either... have you noticed anything? Like, you killed him that one time, what did you use?   Eyesore: Sword.   Marvin: OK, pretty standard. We can do this, Eyesore. We can do this. Actually, I've lived in Ashport for a while... I recall there being a group of gnolls in Ashport. Maybe you'll get along with them?   Eyesore: THOSE GNOLLS ARE STUPID!!!   Marvin: Oh, you know them?   Eyesore: Why would they gotta live in a city? They gotta be stupid, they're so stupid!   Marvin: I don't know if they live there, they —   Eyesore: TAMED DOGS!!!   Marvin: — they just pass through there, for, like, supplies? They totally go on the road and adventure and stuff...   Eyesore: Well... look. We both know neither one of us are gonna die, right?   Marvin: Yeah, we'll both come out of this on top.   Eyesore: OK. Well, I can't guarantee the safety of the others.   Marvin: I know. They can handle themselves, though.   Eyesore, leaning in to whisper: ...can they read and write?   Marvin: Um...   Eyesore: I can do that now.   Marvin: That's great. I think the green-haired one might struggle a little bit with that, but for the most part, I think they can handle their ABC's.   Kesmet stirs again in his sleep, as if a great insult has been laid bare upon him.   Eyesore: I'm still no good at the bureaucratic shit, though. I mean, it is a doctor's office.   Marvin: I understand. You don't have to worry about that part. Just point us in the right direction, maybe give us a couple of tips here and there, and you'll never have to deal with him again.   Eyesore: I'm not goin' down there.   Marvin: That's fine. If you could help us get there, though? And give us information along the way?   Eyesore: ...can you not climb stairs?   Marvin: I mean, if the step is a little too tall... wait, are you sayin' somethin' about my height?!   Eyesore, looking proud of himself: You're really short and stupid!   Marvin: And there it is! The racism comes out. Eyesore, we're friends, right? I think you should get some rest. I do appreciate this talk, though.   Eyesore: Hey, hey! I would keep the mask on in this room, unless you wanna get a REAL good night's sleep.   Marvin: Keep the mask on? OK... what happens if I don't?   Eyesore: I mean, if you want a good night's sleep, you can take the mask off.   Marvin: ...how good?   Eyesore: ...actually, why don't I smell the smoke as much anymore?   Marvin: Oh, the big —   Eyesore: AHH, you killed the... well.   Marvin: So, without that smoke, I assume it's fine?   Eyesore: I don't know.   Marvin: I'll keep it on, just in case.   Eyesore: You can't feel pain while you're asleep, just keep that in mind.   Marvin: ... ... ...OK! Yeah! I appreciate that, Eyesore. You should get some rest. You need a pillow, or something? I think I could take some of that flesh over there and make a pillow?

Marvin keeps watch, not seeing much of anything. He wakes up Kesmet.

Second Watch: Kesmet (and Eyesore)

Marvin: Hey, so, Eyesore's all right. He's kinda chillin' over there. I did get some info out of him. I'll tell you about it in the morning. I don't think he's going to try anything sneaky, but I would keep an eye on him.   Kesmet: Right. And, who are you?   Marvin: ...   Kesmet: Oh. Marvin. I didn't recognize you, with the mask.   Marvin: Yeah, I've been wearing this thing for so long... I would keep it on, just FYI. Apparently, the smoke monster thing, the mask protects against it. It's dead now, so it's probably fine, but I don't know...   Kesmet: Oh shit, yeah, we forgot to take 'em off. We were so damn tired.

As Marvin gets to sleep, Kesmet walks over to Eyesore, taking his time to avoid the remnants of the battle.   Eyesore is still all tied up, and he's currently just licking at a spot on the floor.

Kesmet: Hey Eyesore, are you thirsty or something? What's with the floor?   Eyesore: What do you want?   Kesmet: ...to know if you are thirsty. You seem to be licking the floor for no reason.   Eyesore: YOU'RE licking the floor for no reason!   Kesmet: ...OK. Are you thirsty?   Eyesore: ... ... yes...   Kesmet gives him some water, helping him drink it since he's tied up. Eyesore behaves himself as he drinks it.

He starts telling some of his novel idea to Soretooth, who quickly falls asleep. Kesmet wakes him back up as he does and continues telling his story, but Eyesore starts rubbing his face against the rocks.

Kesmet: All right, all right! Jeez, everybody's a critic. So, Sorefoot, what's your deal? Marvin said that you're chill now (except that you were very thirsty).   Eyesore: You can't just ask somebody what their deal is. You're so stupid.   Kesmet: Well, you can't just tell people that they're stupid. What if they're not?   Eyesore: Eyesore has never been wrong once! If Eyesore says you're stupid, then you're stupid!   Kesmet: Never been wrong once, eh?   Eyesore: Name one time I was wrong, if you're so clever! Eh? You can't, can ya?   Kesmet: Well, a couple of hours ago, you were were wrong to attack us while we were trying to get you off of that thing over there.   Eyesore: No, I was right.   Kesmet: Why? It led to you being tied up like this. It must have been wrong.   Eyesore: I would probably have been tied up if I didn't fight, right?   Kesmet: Probably not. You're tied up because you fought. It's a direct correlation. A direct cause-and-effect type of thing.   Eyesore: You can use those big seven-letter words all you want. You're not gonna convince me you're right!   Kesmet: Yeah, but, you see, because I'm using those big words, that means I'm smart. So that means I can't be stupid.   Eyesore: Stupid people use big words to sound smart.   Kesmet: Yes, but sometimes, smart people use them, because that's what smart people do.   Eyesore: Eyesore doesn't use big words, and Eyesore is very smart. You're wrong, 'cause you're stupid!   Kesmet: I dunno. The word "stupid" is two syllables.   Eyesore: And your book is stupid, too!   Kesmet: Books don't really have brains to be smart or stupid. You're very wrong about things. A lot of things. You think books can be stupid or smart.   Eyesore: OK, maybe if books have seven-letter words, they're stupid, 'cause they're tryin' to sound smart. ...maybe it's the small books that were smart all along...   Kesmet: Maybe.   Eyesore: Picture books are the smartest books!   Kesmet: Actually, the story might do better as a visual novel...   Kesmet: Thank you, Soresock, you've given me a fantastic idea for writing that storybook that I was thinking of! It doesn't need to use any words. It can just be mostly pictures! Perhaps some dialogue here and there, like a voice bubble of something like a paladin claiming not to be a paladin.   Eyesore: Do you think Marvin and I are gonna miss you when you die?   Kesmet: Well, you're very rude, so you'll probably not miss me.   Eyesore: Probably not.   Kesmet: See? I'm smart, I know you won't miss me. Marvin, maybe. He's been with us a lot longer, and he's less rude than you. And he's smarter than you. So, Soretooth, what's up with that big thing you were impaled on? Why did you even attack us? We were trying to help you! We were taking you off that big pointy thing that seemed to have you impaled!   Eyesore: I'm supposed to be on the big pointy thing.   Kesmet: But why? That seems dumb. It's so uncomfortable!   Eyesore: 'cause that's where I go.   Kesmet: That's not a reason. That's recursion.   Eyesore: It's called "The Waiting Room". It's where you wait.   Kesmet: You can wait sitting on the ground like we are right now. You don't have to be impaled on a, what'd you call that thing?   Eyesore: The Shrike?   Kesmet: Yeah, The Kite, whatever. Even the ground right here's more comfortable than being impaled, right?   Eyesore: Well, I was asleep when I was impaled.   Kesmet: Still, when you woke up, it probably would have been very painful.   Eyesore: Eh, pain's just the body complainin' about stuff.   Kesmet: That's the body telling you that something's wrong.   Eyesore: Yeah, but the body, it doesn't matter, right? So...   Kesmet: Bodies are important. If the body didn't matter, why would the Doctor be trying to change Marvin's so badly?   Eyesore: He's tryin' to save his soul, not his body. It's not the Doctor's fault that Marvin's body's too shit for his soul.   Kesmet: It can't be too shit for his soul. The body doesn't matter, right? You can't have it both ways. Either the body matters enough to be paired with the soul, or the body doesn't matter.   Eyesore: ...what?   Kesmet: Look. Even if the soul is wrong for the body, or the body's wrong for the soul, or whatever, it's still the body you have at the moment. And until it gets "fixed", you gotta deal with it. And so, isn't it better to, while you have this body, be comfortable so that your soul isn't hurting? By sitting on the cold, hard, uncomfortable ground here, I am more comfortable than I would be if I were impaled on that thing. So, my soul is happy. I think. See, the soul and the body are tied together! At least in some way. If they weren't, why would we have bodies?   Eyesore: Aww, shit. And the Doctor didn't say there was anything wrong with you, so that means that what you're saying has to be true...   Kesmet: ...really? ...uh, I mean...   Kesmet: Of course!   Eyesore: OK, I think I'll be a little sad when you die.   Kesmet: Thank... you? And I will also be sad, if you die.   Eyesore: ...that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to Eyesore.   Kesmet: Oh, "Eyesore"! Sorry, dude, I kept getting your name wrong. Horrible with names. I knew it was a body part, but...   Eyesore: Nobody's ever said they'd be sad if I died before.   Kesmet: Well, with me, it's iffy.   Eyesore: Is this what love feels like?   Kesmet: Uh. "Lukewarm respect" is more like it.   Eyesore: Eyesore's never felt love before...   Kesmet: Yeah, sure. Love. I mean, what about Visceral? Doesn't he love you? Surely, there must have been somebody who loved you before?   Eyesore: I mean, thinkin' back on it, no. Not really.   Kesmet: That's rough, buddy.   Eyesore: I think the attention I get from the Doctor is really, you know, what's driving this whole thing. Oh God, I think I've been alone this whole time! Maybe I seek attention, whether it's good or bad, just to feel something!   Kesmet: That's... surprisingly introspective of you.   Eyesore: Do you think you could ever love me, the way I love you?   Kesmet, very carefully: I'm not 100% sure, exactly, how you're feeling about me. There are many different types of love.   Eyesore: ...I think I'm gonna be sad when you die. Oh no... like, where should I send your body when you die?   Kesmet: I had not given it much consideration. For, you see, I'm a bit of a nomad after things happened earlier in my life.   Eyesore: OK, I'll just take you with me. It's fine, don't worry about it.   Kesmet:

They do some small talk for the rest of this watch, then Kesmet goes to get Dazki.

Third Watch: Dazki

Dazki immediately notices that there's a ghost in this room, rifling through the box by the statue in the southeast.

Dazki: Hey, Eyesore, you see that thing over there, over by the box?   Eyesore: I don't see anything! I don't have to talk to you at all!   Dazki: No, you don't. Did you talk to Kesmet or Marvin at all?   Eyesore: I don't have to talk to you at all.   Dazki: All right. In that case, enjoy lying there being silent.   Eyesore: ...no, you.

Dazki walks over to the ghost. It's vaguely bird-shaped, with its head partway into the crate, rummaging around. Editor's note: it's the ghost of Secretary, which we learn a little later, so I'll refer to it that way.

Dazki: Hey there! What are you lookin' for?   Secretary turns to Dazki and drawing an ethereal dagger.   Dazki: Hey, hey, hey! Not here to fight. Not here to fight. His hand slowly moves towards his rapier.   Secretary: Not here to fight. Not here to fight.   Dazki: What are you looking for?   Secretary: What are you looking for?   Dazki: What's your name?   Secretary: Why, out of all the birds, would you pick Secretary?! It's such a dumb name, you can't even read!   Dazki: What was "Secretary" picked for?   Secretary: What's your name?   Dazki: My name is Dazki.   Secretary: Dazki.   Dazki: Yeah. Do you know that name?   Secretary: Do you know that name?   Dazki: Please put your weapon down.   Secretary: Please put your weapon down.

Dazki mimes dropping a dagger from Secretary's hand. Secretary obliges, dropping the dagger, which disappears as it does.

Dazki: Is everybody else downstairs?   Secretary shakes its head "no", in confusion, cocking its head to the side.   Dazki: Are the others that are still alive downstairs?   Secretary: Still alive downstairs? Shakes its head no.   Dazki: Was your art piece in that box?   Secretary: Art piece, art piece. You can't even read!   Dazki: Would you like to learn how to read?   Secretary doesn't seem interested, only continuing to look for its thing in the box.   Dazki: Yeah, we took that.   Secretary, getting ruffled and bothered: ...any of these villainous monsters appear here...   Dazki: Yep, us "villainous monsters". So why are we so villainous?   Secretary: Deadly intruders causing havoc! Deadly intruders causing havoc!   Dazki: Yes, but did you see what happened in the surgery room? If that's not evil, I don't know what is.   Secretary: Deadly intruders causing havoc. If that's not evil, what is?   Dazki: Performing unwanted surgery on living victims. That's evil.   Secretary approaches closer, as Dazki stares at it, then points at Dazki's chest with its talon.   Secretary: That's evil.   Dazki: Yeah, sometimes it can be. I try not to, but sometimes all of us have a little bit of evil within us. You just have to fight against it the best you can. Did you fight against the evil inside you?   Secretary turns around in a huff and walks back to the box.   Secretary: You don't even know how to read.   Dazki: I do know how to read. Is there something you'd like me to read for you?   Secretary ignores him.   Dazki: Well, if you change your mind, I'll be over there reading.   Secretary: Stay here.   Dazki: Why?   Secretary: Any of these villainous monsters appear here. If any.   Dazki: What should I do? What should Secretary do?   Secretary: Perform the emergency purge procedure. You can't even read!   Dazki: Where did everyone else go?   Secretary: Everyone else go.   Dazki: Where? To the ants?   Secretary: Causing havoc within the inner sanctum here.   Dazki: Did the others leave? Run away?   Secretary: Leave? Stay here.   Dazki: Yes, we stay here. Did the others leave without you?   Secretary: Without — why would you want to be called Secretary?   Dazki: Why would you? Tell me, I'm interested. Why would you want to be called Secretary?   Secretary: All you do is draw your pictures all day!   Dazki: Isn't that what an artist is supposed to do? Create art?   Secretary: You can't even read! Why would you want to be called Secretary?   Dazki: Well, if you want to talk any more, Secretary, I will be busy reading.

Dazki goes over to the other side of the room where he could see more, and begins reading. Secretary follows and possesses him, forcing him to continue reading his book some more, finally making sense of the third chapter of that book.   He goes to wake up Grogery.

Dazki: Hey, Grogery.   Grogery: Hey. How's the situation with Eyesore right now?   Dazki: The situation with Eyesore is fine! He is being quiet. Very quiet, like a hallway. You remember the hallway?   Grogery: ...I don't speak Thieves' Cant, I'm sorry. Are you feeling all right, Dazki?   Dazki: Yeah, I feel fine.   Dazki: I feel fine.   Grogery: OK... is the implication that someone else isn't feeling fine, and we don't want to talk about it out loud? Because if so, I don't understand what you're saying, so it's not working.   Dazki: Well, I'm going to be awake while you're on watch, obviously.   Grogery: All right, let me know if you need... anything.   Dazki: Yeah. By the way, what happens to things in here when they, uh... cease being?   Grogery: Oh! If we're talking about that ghost that tried to possess me, I think because of all the stuff that goes on with bodies and souls in here, the Flesh Artist set up something to keep souls trapped in this lair in the event that the body dies, so the souls aren't able to get out. So we need to be really careful if we end up killing people, because they might come back as ghosts.   Dazki: That is, um, certainly a possibility. That we should be concerned about.   Grogery: I see! ...I think? It's another thing to use as an argument, if Dwardazik wants to kill Eyesore. I mean, imagine Eyesore coming back as a ghost and possessing you!   Dazki: Yeah. Imagine something like that, happening. Well, I'm going to be over here reading, if you want anything.   Grogery: All right.

Grogery goes to check on Eyesore, who is pretending (poorly) to be asleep. Grogery figures that if Eyesore is pretending to be asleep, then he must want to either be asleep, or at least not be bothered.   Grogery puts on Baxton's Ring of Mind Shielding to attempt to attune to it (momentarily forgetting that Dwardazik is still attuned to it, so it won't work). As he does, Baxton begins a conversation.

Baxton: Is my protégé so high-and-mighty now as to need a secretary? Are you a receptionist?   Grogery: Uh... I wasn't aware that you spoke Thieves' Cant, but with your obsession with Dazki, it seems to make sense in hindsight.   Baxton: Well, I'm not terribly interested in speaking with you. Shall I arrange a meeting?   Grogery: What, between me and you? Or between you and Dazki?   Baxton: Well, clearly the only reason why I'm speaking with you, now, is because my protégé is too high-and-mighty to deal with me personally. If he wants a go-between, then so be it.   Grogery: I think it might just be more that... Dazki might not want that much to do with you anymore.   Baxton: I love how naïve clerics are. They are taught to believe a very specific set of rules and fail to think of others.   Grogery: No one really spent much time trying to teach me how to be a cleric. It's something I wanted to do with my life, something that I thought would help me to find my place in the world.   Baxton: As far as goblins go, you are fairly domesticated.   Grogery: Can we, like, not use that word?   Baxton: Do you know where the term "Grogery" comes from?   Grogery: I don't know exactly how the word came to be, no.   Baxton: "Grogery" is a funny little name, typically given to, say, a housecat. The equivalent of "Spot" or "Fluffy", for humans. It's quite humorous, now, that you seem to be a second-class citizen in this group as well.   Grogery: You will have to explain your reasoning on that.   Baxton: Has anybody ever listened to you? Ever taken your yipping and yapping seriously? Or do they just go on and do whatever it is they were going to do anyway, and just ignore the barking dog?   Grogery: If people didn't listen to me, then I doubt I would be able to get this ring from Dwardazik in the first place. He seemed pretty intent on keeping it.   Baxton: If I recall, the dwarf asked permission not from you, but from my protégé, to hand over the ring. In my opinion, that further solidifies you role as a receptionist.   Grogery: It seems you don't understand the roles that each of us plays to make our group function. Many times, the healing magic that I provide from Pelor is the only thing keeping these sorry souls alive in the middle of combat. From that perspective, I'm the one taking care of them, not the other way around.   Baxton, chuckling: Oh, I'm not calling you useless! Indeed, many a dog are quite useful. I dare say, a farmer without his sheepdog would have an awfully difficult time keeping his flock safe. But a dog does not eat at the dinner table, and a dog certainly doesn't decide who lives or who dies in the family.   Grogery: Neither does the family, if we're being entirely honest.   Baxton: So will you set a meeting with my protégé or not?   Grogery: If you really want to talk to him that badly, have you asked the others for the chance, and they've all just said no?   Baxton: He really must learn to increase the obedience of his followers.   Grogery: Says someone who spent far too much time depending on the obedience of his followers.   Baxton: So, is it your turn to bore my soul with your religious ramblings? Are you my torturer, or are we going to get some peace and quiet?   Grogery: We can get some peace and quiet. I'll be thinking about it for the next couple of hours, because part of it will be spent regaining my magic. If you can tolerate that, then I suppose we can have a peaceful relationship.   Baxton: Good dog.

Red Dead Re-Desert

While Marvin sleeps, he dreams that he is in a Red Desert.   Howling winds, blowing against a darkened twilit sky, smattered with a galaxy of stars. There is a halfling. Scared, nondescript, fleeing from danger. It slides down the dunes of crimson red sand. A mercurial black stone careens past, slamming hard into the sand, like a meteorite. As it impacts, small tendril-like serpents, like a fractal, rupture from the crater it created.   Again and again, the meteorites crash down, one narrowly missing the halfling, spraying it with dust, causing it to stumble. ...unlucky. Unlucky. It's very unlucky for this halfling.   As the halfling slides down the dune in the sand, an impossibly large entity dwarfs the sky briefly as it comes over the dune. Breaching, as if from waves, a shadowy porpoise, a world-devouring worm, a mercurial sea serpent, on a collision course, waiting to engulf the unfortunately unlucky halfling.   Marvin's vision of the scene suddenly goes dark, and he is awakened in a cold sweat.

Boo

Marvin, shaken: Huh... Dwardazik?   Dwardazik: Yes...?   Marvin: You think someone can get strong enough to catch boulders?   Dwardazik: Well, yeah. Anyone can catch a boulder. The real question is if you can live afterward.   Marvin: ha... HA! ...ha... OK, that's interesting...   Dwardazik: What's goin' on with you, man?   Marvin: I think you guys are... rubbing off on me. Your craziness.   Dwardazik: We're not crazy.   Kesmet: We did nothing of the sort.   Marvin: Sure you didn't. I dunno, I just had a nightmare.   Dwardazik: Before you get all crazy on me, can I just have some breakfast (or dinner, or lunch, or whatever time it is), so I can handle whatever the hell we're gonna see next in this cult dungeon?   Marvin: Yeah, yeah, sure, let's see what we have to cook.   Dwardazik: Hey Dazki, Grogery, Kesmet, it's time to eat! And I guess we should probably get something for our prisoner over there.   Marvin: Yeah, Dazki, get your head out of that book. We need food.   Dazki: Yeah, yep. Um, Grogery, any thoughts about what we talked about last night?   Grogery: Um... yes.   Dazki: Great!   Marvin: You two OK over there?   Dazki: I'm OK.   Dwardazik: That's good.   Dazki: I'm OK.   Dwardazik: That's good!   Marvin: You'll be better when you've had food. Now get over here!   Dwardazik: Yeah, Marvin's cookin'. It'll be great!   They sit down to eat the food, as Kesmet uses his spice box to improve the taste.   Dazki: What did we learn from our friend overnight?   Marvin: He and I had a pretty good chat. He seems onboard with helping us... stop this from recurring. Y'know, the Flesh Artist.   Dwardazik: Whaaaa?! You convinced him to join our side?   Kesmet: Yeah, he gets weirdly introspective when you give him water.   Dwardazik: Are you sure he's not just foolin' ya in order to try and make an escape?   Marvin: That's the thing! I told him, he should be free. He's been in a lot of pain. The things that the Flesh Artist has done to him... he was not willing. He's not a willing subject in all this.   Dazki: That makes sense.   Marvin: Long story short, I convinced him to tell us a little bit more. So, he's not a lich, but he's... lich-like? I guess? He literally just makes additional bodies for his soul to find after he dies. So not really like a lich, but sort-of?   Dazki, all of a sudden sounding startled: Hey guys, I'm gonna... If any of these villainous monsters appear here, immediately perform the emergency purge procedure!   Marvin: Why would you do that?   Grogery, as he casts Dispel Evil and Good: He's possessed! Get him!   Dwardazik: What, I get to hit Dazki? With GROGERY'S permission?!   Grogery: Hold him down, just grapple him, don't hurt him!

Kesmet tries to trip Dazki as he runs by, but Kesmet trips over himself, falling prone. Grogery catches up before Dazki can move further away and touches him, expelling the ghost (Marvin: "Ooh, spooky! The ghost wants our food!").   Dazki is conflicted about what to do: on the one hand, it's a brainwashed birdlike cultist that just wants to learn how to read. On the other hand, it just tried to have him murder a bunch of people by pulling the lever (unaware though it may have been that the lever was disabled).

Dazki, pulling out his rapier: If we let you go, will you leave us be?   Dwardazik, pulling out his warhammer but not attacking immediately: ...by all that is holy, I'm surrounded by idiots.

Kesmet also prepares to fire bolt the ghost if it does anything hostile, but Grogery turns it, causing it to phase through the floor, going somewhere down below.

Marvin: ...yeah, you better fuckin' run! ...fuckin' ghost...   Dazki: Phew, thanks Grogery.   Dwardazik: That was the plan?!   Grogery: You're welcome. I was trying to figure out a way to start casting this spell without letting the ghost know what was going on. It looks like things worked out all right in the end.   Dazki: Yep.   Dwardazik: You kicked that ghost's ass! Saved me the trouble.   Dazki: Scared 'im off, at least, yeah.   Dwardazik: Ahh, I guess it isn't dead, is it... last one went up in a whiff...   Kesmet: Well, it is "dead", just... still kickin'.   Dwardazik: That means it can attack us again! Damnit, I do have to keep checking over my shoulder!   Dazki: Maybe it can actually choose to leave this area and move on from there.   Dwardazik: ...right. So, is anyone else here possessed?   Dazki: I tried to tell Grogery directly, but I couldn't.   Dwardazik: All right, Marvin, say "no" if you are not... yes.. possessed.   Marvin: Could you repeat the question?   Dwardazik: ...he's not possessed.   Marvin: I'm "possessed" by some hunger fierce, all right? Let's get some food, already!   Dwardazik: Man, I haven't even had something to eat before we had to start tryin' to kill somethin'! Err... un-un-kill something...   Dazki: Luckily, with Grogery's quick thinking, we were able to conserve resources for the real threat at hand.   Dwardazik: So this is the point I was tryin' to get to this whole time. We're gonna need some brain fuel for this one. When we last fought Vicra, we used psychic damage. That's how we killed him. Does anyone know what else happened? 'cause I remember psychic damage for sure, but I'm a bit fuzzy.   Marvin: I recall I finished him off with a psychic spell, but W.E.I.R.D. did list off several things that they knew he was killed with.   Dwardazik: All right, so what were those?   Grogery: Most of the mundane damage (so slashing, piercing, that sort of thing). Also radiant damage, so any offensive spells I can use aren't going to be that effective.   Marvin: Also poison? They also mentioned poison, I believe? And I swear they mentioned lightning and fire and...   Grogery: I think they said that most of the elemental stuff was still on the table, though.   Marvin: Oh it's still on the table! OK, I'm remembering now.   Dwardazik: Well, if you really think about it, then unless we've got some way of potentially using poison (which I don't think we do), then what do I got? Some alchemical fire, I could dash my warhammer in some fire and throw it? Then we've got basically Kesmet to do all the damage.   Grogery: I doubt Vicra's going to be the only thing defending that place, so if there's additional cultists or ragmen, then...   Marvin: I've got my big fist thing that I've been itching to use...   Eyesore: There ain't cultists down there! You're so stupid!   Grogery: Oh, Eyesore's awake! Hello, Eyesore, would you like some food?   Dwardazik: Ugh, that damn hyena.   Marvin: Hey, that's a little racist there, friend.   Dwardazik: Ugh, that damn creature.   Marvin: I guess we're all creatures here, so that's better.   Dazki: So why aren't there cultists down there?   Eyesore: Why would there be cultists in a doctor's office?! You're so stupid!   Dazki: They could be his patients?   Grogery: Would there not be a masterpiece down there? I guess that's not really a cultist...   Dwardazik: If Eyesore could do us a favor, he could just tell us what damage would kill Vicra.   Marvin: He was not privy to that information. Vicra did not tell him all those sorts of details.   Dwardazik: Ugh. Makes sense...   Marvin: So it is down inside that coffin, though. Apparently, you open up that sarcophagus, and stairs downward open up.   Kesmet: ...I was kidding.   Marvin: You were kidding, but somehow, you were goddamn right.   Grogery: So what about those places with the Fossilized Melodies at the front?   Dwardazik: Yeah, what the hell do the Fossilized Melodies do?   Eyesore: That's the Soul Beacon, you idiots!   Grogery: ..."the Soul Beacon".   Eyesore: ...Eyesore has to explain everything, 'cause you're so stupid.   Kesmet: Yes. Come here, have some breakfast, and then explain things to us.   Dwardazik: ...uh, he can't move.   Marvin: Yeah, he can't get up. Can we at least undo his feet, so he can get up?   Dwardazik: Well, now that I'm awake, if he tries to do anything stupid, I'll just... well... "remind" him not to.   Marvin: Here, let's undo his feet. Let's get him up.   Kesmet: Hang on a minute. Eyesore. Do you promise not to attack us or run anymore? Or attack us?   Eyesore: ...do you promise not to attack me?   Kesmet: Yes, if you don't attack us. The attacking is very important.   Eyesore: You go first.   Kesmet: How about this? Since nobody's going to attack anyone, then we can both promise not to attack the other person, right?   Dazki: I promise not to attack you.   Eyesore: OK.   Dazki: Physically or emotionally, by any intent. Now you promise the same to us.   Eyesore: I kinda trust him a little. He's got a really fancy coat.   Marvin: He does have some style.   Eyesore: OK, OK, OK. Undo all of my bindings, and then I'll tell you a bunch of smart stuff, and then nobody kills anybody!   Dwardazik: The more important thing is, I want you to step away from that corpse.   Marvin: Dude, the corpse is toxic. He wants nothing to do with it.   Kesmet: OK, so quick vote, do we unbind him? He looks back at the rest of the party.   Everyone else: NO!   Eyesore: No, don't! People would be sad if I died!   Dazki: Here's the thing, Dwardazik. You saw that ghost that possessed me, right?   Dwardazik: Yeah.   Dazki: You killed that, and that came back to bite us in the ass, didn't it?   Dwardazik: Mmm...   Dazki: We killed Baxton. That came back to bite us in the ass, didn't it?   Kesmet: More like annoy us in the ass, but that's fine...   Dwardazik: I suppose, but I mean, he was evil.   Dazki: He needed to be stopped, yes, but us killing him caused an innocent child to die!   Marvin: Wait, I haven't heard this detail!!!   Kesmet: And I was completely out of it because I got drugged up or something... when did this happen?!   Dazki: Sorda'an's son!   Grogery: Baxton had tied his life essence to Sorda'an's son as a way to gain Sorda'an's loyalty. Keeping Baxton happy was therefore something that Sorda'an needed to keep doing, and it was insurance that if anybody wanted to go out to kill Baxton, then Sorda'an would have to put a stop to it.   Dazki: So, us murdering people has led to bad things, including the death of an innocent young boy. So maybe we should stop going about with the murder.   Eyesore: No, no, I murdered the doctor and he only got stronger. So you can suck my hairy nuts.   Kesmet: There will be no sucking of nuts, and no murder, OK?   Dazki: Killing the doctor is also bad for us. We don't want him to get stronger.   Dwardazik: So you don't want to kill the hyena. That's basically what you're saying.   Grogery: He's just gonna come back as a ghost.   Dazki: The point is, do not kill the hyena.   Dwardazik: Well, that seems fine with me. But when he backstabs you... ugh, you'll probably just die, and I won't even be able to say I told you so...   Grogery: Dwardazik. It may not look like it, but it took some of my most powerful magic to get Dazki free of the ghost without harming him.   Eyesore: Yeah, and Kermit said he'd be really sad if I died, and you don't want to make him sad, so...   Dwardazik: Who's Kermit?   Marvin: It's Kesmet. He's bad with names too.   Dazki: You know, Kermit. Just like Sore Tooth.   Kesmet: All right. So nobody's killing nobody. Let's get the restraints off of Eyesore so that we can have our ropes back, and Dwardazik can have his manacles back.   Dwardazik, in a grumpy tone: Yeah, I'll need those manacles back. Heaven knows we need them more than our weapons.   Grogery: Dwardazik, in case this would be the nail in the proverbial coffin for you, it seems like this lair has some sort of effect to keep souls here and unable to escape once the body passes on. Basically, everyone we kill, or have allowed to die, essentially comes back as a ghost. Remember when Pigeon died? I'm pretty sure that was his ghost that tried to possess me.   Eyesore: Or! Or! If the Soul Beacon isn't full yet, it goes into the Soul Beacon, and it's used to charge the Melodies. So stupid!   Grogery: OK, see the Soul Beacon is full of the — wait, the souls get trapped inside of the Soul Beacon?!   Marvin: That doesn't sound good.   Grogery: Soul trapping is incredibly bad.   Eyesore: It's fine, it's only, like, the cultist ones. And they get destroyed if they have to charge the Melodies anyways! So, in some sort of roundabout way, it's like we're the good guys!   Grogery: The souls get DESTROYED?! That is VERY not good.   Eyesore: Well, their essence is used.   Dwardazik: They were cultists and evil, right? I don't care what happens to their souls.   Grogery: Nobody deserves to just be unmade forever!   Dwardazik: Whether it be Oblivion, hell, the Earth, or the Nine Divines, or whatever, I don't really care what happens after they die!   Eyesore: Yeah, I thought we were cool with all the cultists being evil!   Dazki: No. No, we want them to not be evil. But we also don't want them to just —   Eyesore: Killing them makes them not evil, because they go into the Soul Beacon!   Dwardazik: Uhhhhhh, no, they're still evil.   Dazki: So tell us more about the Soul Beacon.   Eyesore: Well, how else is a soul supposed to figure out how to get back here, right? I mean, the Doctor travels real far.   Marvin: Is the Soul Beacon downstairs in his office?   Grogery: No, it's the thing from the first room.   Marvin: Why is it over there?   Eyesore: The souls can cry out to other souls, and then the melody will bring the Doctor back! And that's how it knows where to go!   Dazki: So if we destroy the Soul Beacon, then the Doctor won't know where to go, and he won't be able to come back?   Eyesore: He'll still be... floating around somewhere, though? I don't know how any of this works!   Marvin: So, let me get this straight. The Soul Beacon charges the four Melodies —   Eyesore: Six.   Marvin: Six... wait, why did Pigeon say we only needed four, then?   Grogery: If a decision needs to be made, then a majority need to agree to it, so you only need four of the six to use it.   Eyesore: Yeah, and those cultists, they'll just, like, die anyways, right?   Marvin: Wait, the four cultists who use the Melodies?   Dazki: So what happens when the Melodies get put in the Soul Beacon?   Eyesore: It charges the Beacon, and then the soul knows how to get back.   Dwardazik: So if I'm getting this straight: the Beacon collects the local souls, and as it's powering up, it gives a focal point for Vicra to come back to. But Vicra isn't good enough (or whatever) and can't do the next step. So when all these souls are getting sacrificed (probably the humans that were getting operated on, or something like that), to power up the Soul Beacon, then the bigwigs take all their Melodies, slap it on there. It gets super powerful, and then I bet you the Melodies are used in some kind of ritual downstairs, powered up with souls, to resurrect Vicra? Am I close?   Eyesore: Well, I don't really know what they do with 'em after that. Listen, I'm no good with bureaucracy, so I don't really like going down to the third floor.   Dazki: Sounds like you're right, though, Dwardazik.   Dwardazik: All right.   Marvin: So we need to bring these four back to the Soul Beacon?   Dwardazik: ...if we want to complete the ritual. We should probably scout out first, if we can, what Vicra's place looks like. The last thing I want to do is walk in there.   Eyesore: Well, they're probably already charged up, right?   Dwardazik: Are you saying that these medallions are already charged up now, and we don't need to place them on the altar or anything?   Grogery: How would you tell?   Eyesore: Well, 'cause the doctor's regenerating, right? That's, like, the first step they do, is they recharge the thingy!   Grogery: Well, the Beacon is full, that's why other cultist souls are wandering around as ghosts.   Dazki: Could be charging it up for next time.   Marvin: Apparently, they don't waste time around here!   Grogery: We killed a lot of cultists... so now, it's full...   Dwardazik: Maybe those cultists that ran away went into that one chamber and were killing innocents.   Marvin: Possible. Man, this place is getting worse and worse.   Grogery: Eyesore said something weird. Only the cultist souls end up going to the Beacon?   Marvin: So here's an idea, guys. You might not like it. I don't think we can properly kill this guy. Just in the same way you have Baxton carried around with you guys, we might need to do something similar with Vicra.   Dazki: As much as I hate to say it, that might be a good idea. Empty the Soul Beacon, kill his body, and then trap his soul in there. Either that, or find a way to destroy the thing that preserves the souls and keeps them here, so that when he dies, he moves on.   Marvin: Wait, Eyesore. You said you've killed Vicra once. He asked you to, right?   Eyesore: Yeah?   Marvin: Where were you when you did that? You weren't in this cave, were you?   Eyesore: No.   Marvin: Here's the plan! We have to get the Soul Beacon empty, and kill him in the cave! Then, instead of him wandering trying to find the Soul Beacon, he gets absorbed into the Soul Beacon! And we can then eliminate him by using the Melodies to erase him!   Dazki: That certainly sounds like a possibility.   Grogery: So Eyesore, when Vicra asked you to kill him before, where were you and where did you see his soul go after that?   Eyesore: The soul always goes back here! You're so stupid! Where else would it go?!   Dwardazik: All right, I understand the idea you're cookin' up here, and I kinda like it. But I'm a little confused on one step. So, right now, the Melodies are charged, right?   Marvin: Maybe not? They might have already used them to initiate the regeneration process.   Dwardazik: So, does that mean we go back and charge the Melodies, and then by extension, that clears the Beacon?   Marvin: Sounds like it, yeah.   Dazki: That's what I think.   Grogery: It seems to me what happens is that when the Doctor dies, he needs to send a Ragman or someone back here to turn the Soul Beacon back on so he knows where to go. They did that, because Eyesore popped back here. Is that what you did after you teleported back here, Eyesore?   Eyesore: Well, I mean, yeah...   Grogery: So they would've charged the Melodies and then turned the Soul Beacon on. The Melodies are charged. The Doctor found his way over here using the Soul Beacon. He's probably back down in that area, starting to regenerate or inhabiting a body. So he's already down there. We can take the Melodies we have and then... turn his body on, down there?   Dwardazik: OK, but at no point in this process was he trapped in the Soul Beacon. How is he supposed to get in there?   Grogery: He might not be trappable in the Soul Beacon. It only happens to cultists...   Marvin: But the cultists have to be killed here, in this cave.   Grogery: It might not be in this cave. It might be a function of wearing the mask. So before entering combat with Vicra's new body, we should probably not be wearing the masks anymore.   Marvin: I don't know, I don't like the idea of draining the Soul Beacon, just 'cause. He said there's some... floaties... floating around in there.   Eyesore: Yeah, but they're evil floaties, so...   Grogery: Just because somebody's evil doesn't mean that their soul deserves to be completely unbuilt.   Eyesore: No, I think that's what it means, though.   Dwardazik: I agree with Eyesore.   Dazki: The only other possibility, then, is somehow figuring out a way to stop the soul bubble trapping everything here. So that when we kill Vicra, he moves on.   Marvin: Could we just destroy the Soul Beacon?   Grogery: Usually, when somebody dies, their soul just immediately moves on unless they have some extremely unfinished business going on (and even then, they can usually get convinced, with the right amount of holy magic). So, I guess the question is, what's actually keeping Vicra's soul trapped here? It's like a phylactery, but we saw his weird bird ethereal-shaped thing fly out of his body when he died.   Dazki: Probably his deal with the Mirage.   Grogery: It sounded like Baxton had a deal with the Mirage, and the Mirage basically said "you didn't do your job well enough, I revoke your power", and then Baxton's still alive. Well, not really "alive", but...   Dwardazik: It probably wanted to take his soul, but Baxton cooked up a funny little plan using the ring to middle-man it.   Grogery: That being said, why hasn't the Turmoil taken Vicra's soul, if Vicra has killed his body several times?   Dazki: It could be a different deal. Each different part of the Mirage has different powers and abilities.   Dwardazik: Baxton was obsessed with staying alive. It almost seemed ridiculous.   Grogery: With everything we know about what Vicra is doing with his operation down here, is he not also obsessed with staying alive?   Dwardazik: I feel he's more obsessed with just research, in a way. It seems like saying alive is just so he can continue his research.   Marvin: Fair. It might be that destroying the Soul Beacon is the only sure thing.   Grogery: Hey, Baxton, do you have any thoughts about how we can unmake this Soul Beacon thing?   Dwardazik: Ooooooh, Grogery's asking Baxton for help, eh?   Grogery: Baxton wants this guy out of the picture almost as much as we do.   Marvin: He does?!   Dazki: They were... "frenemies" is the best way of putting it. They were on the same team, but it did not seem like they liked each other very much.   Marvin: That's interesting that they would be "frenemies", in a way. Does he have an opinion on all of this? Also, sorry, Eyesore, how long does Vicra typically take to regenerate? It's just a few days, typically, right?   Eyesore: Yeah, I think so...   Marvin: Is there an exact number?   Eyesore: Um... I'm usually asleep for that bit.   Marvin: How many times do you go to sleep before he comes back?   Eyesore: Well, once.   Marvin: Oh, shit. I think we're running out of time, guys.   Dazki: Yeah. Oh, and Marvin, to answer your other question, Baxton is assisting us because, in destroying the Mirage, he gets out of whatever deal with the devil that he made, and he can go to the afterlife scot-free and away from his punishment.   Marvin: Wow. What a fuckin' coward.   Dwardazik: If I made a deal with the Mirage, I would probably be concerned about myself.   Marvin: Yeah, but you didn't, and he did.   Dwardazik: I'm just sayin', y'know, I don't think I've had such a spiritual conversation in all my years. Talkin' about souls of the dead and fighting ghosts, like, gosh. Where the hell even are we right now? But having someone playing with my soul sounds like a pretty nasty thing.   Grogery: So, based on this conversation with Baxton that is going about as frustratingly as you would presume, I think what he's trying to tell me (he's not being particularly forthcoming) is that one of the ways that Vicra is using to keep the Mirage from taking his soul when he dies is by using that mask of his to suppress the "true gift", "corrupted arcanum", whatever flowery term he wants to call it. If we're able to get the mask off of him, while also forcing Vicra to trigger his Mirage power or whatnot, then the punishment from actually using said corrupted power would have to befall him.   Dazki: And we know that we can remove that mask by removing the curse on it.   Grogery: Which I have a spell that I will be able to do, and I've been preparing it ever since we first ran into Vicra.   Dazki: Sounds like we're good.   Dwardazik: I think we've got a plan! I'll be damned.   Marvin: Wait, so Grogery, you can remove the curse off of this mask? Marvin pulls out The Mask of the Wasted Breath.   Grogery: Magic items are harder, but I can remove the curse that binds a magic item to somebody.   Marvin: Oh. OK, I understand. So, Eyesore, does he have a lot of this exact mask?   Eyesore: He makes a new one every time.   Marvin: But only after he regenerates, so there's not one waiting for him?   Dazki: It sounds like a new one every time he gets back to his body, and then he makes it.   Marvin: So, one waiting for him, and then when he —   Dazki: It doesn't sound like there's always one waiting for him, he just makes a new one each time.   Dwardazik: Eyesore mentioned that he wasn't really down there to see all the details.   Marvin: That's true...   Eyesore: Yeah, I hate bureaucracy. Gives me the creeps.   Grogery: If Vicra were a smart man, which it seems like he is, then he would have a mask ready to go once he came back up, just in the event that the unthinkable happened.   Marvin: That's what I would do.   Grogery: So either he doesn't have the mask (in which case, problem solved), or he does have a mask, we prompt him to use his whole gasping curse thing, then we de-curse his mask, which would then cause his full power to go off and basically do what we want.   Dazki: Problem solved again.   Grogery: The problem being that this sort of downside, he wouldn't risk that without some sort of great reward. He's muffling the abilities of his power in order to avoid the worst of its side effects, but if we take away the thing that's muffling that, then it might be... we might be a little in over our heads for a bit.   Dazki: When aren't we?   Marvin: Sounds like it's the only option.   Dwardazik: I say we do it! Take the mask off, kill him with fire.   Marvin: Do we need to destroy or drain the Soul Beacon first?   Dazki: I don't think so.   Marvin: You think the Turmoil will just sorta solve the problem?   Dazki: Yeah, that's what it sounds like.   Dwardazik: If we take Baxton at face value, and if he's leading us in the right direction, then yeah.   Dazki: It's in his own self-interest to tell us the truth right now.   Dwardazik: Could you imagine if Vicra got Baxton's ring? Oh, the torment!   Grogery: It would not be good for Baxton for us to die and leave this ring in Vicra's possession.   Marvin: Wow, yeah, I never really realized that Baxton actually wanted you guys to succeed! This is actually an interesting development.   Dazki: Well, "us" is a bit generous.   Marvin: Right, he wants somebody to solve this problem with the Mirage?   Dazki: He wants me to succeed. He doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone else here.   Dwardazik: Eh. That's just how he rolls.   Marvin: Why does he — never mind.   Grogery: For some reason, Baxton sees Dazki as his protégé.   Dazki: I've got some ideas, and I about to ask him about it next time we had the chance to speak.   Grogery: That reminds me. Dwardazik, you're still attuned to this ring. I can talk to Baxton, but I don't think I get any of the actual magical protection that it would provide.   Dwardazik: In that case, I figure I should probably just let Dazki attune to it, since he's the one that's going to be using it the most...   Dazki: I can't attune to another magic item, I just wanted to speak to Baxton.   Dwardazik: Oh, yeah? Well, are you going to attune to it, Grogery?   Grogery: It does prevent people from being possessed, and with all these ghosts running around, I would kind-of not like to have that happen again.   Marvin: Especially considering that Grogery's the only one who can undo it.   Dwardazik: That is a good point. All right, I'll de-attune from it.   Marvin: So does this mean we can just... open up the sarcophagus? Eyesore, do we need to charge the Melodies to open up the sarcophagus?   Dwardazik: Aww, let's just see what happens!   Dwardazik walks up to the sarcophagus and the party huddles around it.   Marvin: Hey, Eyesore. You keep talking about this bureaucracy. That doesn't happen to be a code name for another masterpiece, is it?   Eyesore: I don't know. I don't know what it is. It's just a bunch of talkin', and numbers' and papers, and...   Marvin: OK. Fair enough.   Dwardazik: This dude's gonna backstab us and kill us. I don't care anymore, let's do it.

The sarcophagus here looks like it belongs in a mausoleum, but it's here instead. It doesn't fit, thematically, with the rest of this dungeon here. There's been some more recent modifications to the heavy stone top. Made out of marble, there are familiar-looking runic musical spirals that glow faintly red. The spiraling music continues to flow up the stone all the way to this statue in the back that doubles as a headstone.   The statue is of a large headless bird like a vulture or raven. Its wings are stretched out, as if to protect the sarcophagus from the sun or rain. In the headless bird's chest are four three-inch divots.   Dwardazik is instinctively about to try to lift the top, before stopping himself.

Dwardazik: Dazki? ...maybe we should check for traps before we do anything?   Dazki: I was just gonna let you do it, but yes, that's a good idea.   Dwardazik, tapping his head with his mace: I've learned!   Grogery: Before we go down there, maybe we should send a report to Annu.

Grogery's report:

Vicra’s lair has byzantine entry parameters and some sort of baffling mechanism to prevent the casual transmission of information to the outside world, including Sending and scrying. The use of this more powerful artifact appears to be the only way we may reliably contact you in this zone. We have discovered several items of interest since the last report:   [Description of the ruby-encased fetuses and how they may be related to the method Baxton used to create his monk simulacra, though the ones found here may have been used to create Vicra’s ragmen instead. We are taking these items with us back to Ashport for proper disposal and/or investigation.]   [Description of the elf and martyr-women statues from the shrine, asking whether the elf matches Vicra’s description and whether there was a woman who was close to him whose suffering might have led him to walk down the road of using Turmoil]   [Relaying what we know about the "beacon" Vicra has constructed and how souls are "trapped" in the beacon to be used to "charge" the fossilized melodies and call Vicra home when he dies. Based on what I can describe about it, does Annu think it will be safe to dismantle such a device without causing harm to the souls trapped inside?]   In this location, we have encountered repeated Turmoil-related symbolism regarding certain body parts; hands, feet, eyes, ears, lungs, and the stomach or health in general. Baxton appears to line up with the "eye" symbolism very well, and Vicra lines up with the "lungs". There is an implication that Baxton and Vicra are only two in a set of six, each of them utilizing Turmoil in different ways to achieve their personal goals. Because of your prior job in suppressing Turmoil and keeping abreast of magical activity in Ashport, are there any leads you may be able to give us with this additional information? In particular, it seems that someone in this group was supplying Baxton with Turmoil resources by boat, and Baxton was made to funnel those resources through Ashport to Vicra.   We have made the final steps towards unlocking Vicra’s inner sanctum and are going to confront him there shortly. Presuming we survive, we will send a full report on the event once this artifact has recharged.   We have evidence to believe that Vicra’s power over Turmoil is related to some sort of "deal" he made and that using the full extent of this power will come with a drastic drawback. He has been suppressing his full power with the use of cursed items, therefore avoiding the drawback. It seems that we will not be able to permanently end his operation here without triggering said drawback, so a key part of our strategy will be removing his cursed item and attempting to weather the storm that follows. That being said, if there is anything you would like to say to us before this encounter, particularly things that may give us a tactical advantage, now would be the time to do so.

Dazki goes to investigate the sarcophagus. He can identify the original owner of this sarcophagus: someone named Margaret "Magpie" Rookfeather-Lammergeyer. Recalling the art in the original room, one might be able to piece together a lot of what happened here. Certainly, Baxton has. The sarcophagus is not trapped, but it is magically sealed. There will be no opening this with brute force.

Dazki: Yeah, we just need to put the four Melodies on here.   Dwardazik: Well, let's do it, I suppose. Everyone ready?   Marvin: I would like to talk to Eyesore first.   Dazki: And I would like the ring to talk to Baxton.   Marvin: So, Eyesore, I understand that you're not gonna go down there, and I don't blame you. If something goes wrong down there, just make sure you get out of here safe, all right? Just leave, and never come back, all right? You promise me that?   Eyesore: Well... no.   Marvin: Why not?   Eyesore: Because whoever wins down there is gonna definitely need me.   Marvin: No. That's not true. Because right now, I need you to do something. I need you to survive, and get out of here. You don't belong here.   Eyesore: No, I belong here! The Doctor made me smart, and strong, and I belong here! With whoever wins! Uh...   Marvin: Well, let me tell you this. He's not gonna win. So you might as well just go now. Capisce?   Eyesore, grabbing Marvin's shoulder with his claws: I think I'm gonna be real sad, when... you are sad, that... your friends are dead.   Marvin: Yeah, me too.   Eyesore turns around and walks away.   Marvin, yelling after him: We're gonna get out of here alive. You'd better also get out of here alive!   Dazki gets the ring and begins talking to Baxton.   Dazki: So, what was her name?   Baxton: Her name is Francira.   Dazki: Francira. And did you lose her, or was she taken?   Baxton: She was the only person that believed I could be anything, and then the world took her. Without her, I was hopeless.   Dazki: Well, now you have a chance to prove her right. Who knows, maybe by the end of this, you'll be the person she believed you could be.   Baxton: I am already not.   Dazki: You can change. You can still become better, even like this. She must have been an amazing woman to believe in you and to instill that much passion in you. I am truly sorry for your loss.   Baxton: You will not make the same mistake.   Dazki: I hope not. To do everything for love, I don't know how much of a mistake that is.   Baxton: Love has nothing to do with it.   Dazki: Maybe not anymore, but it did at one point.   Baxton: ...did you ever read that book of Elvish poetry?   Dazki: I've been working my way through The Book of the Mirage, it seemed more relevant to my immediate survival.   Baxton: Hmmph.   Dazki: But with your recommendation, I'll take a look at it the next time I have a chance. Thank you for helping us. I know you probably see me as cruel for allowing (or forcing, or however you want to look at it) my companions, my friends, to speak with you. But I really do believe that a monolithic perspective on the world is not useful, and it helps to see the world as others see it.   Baxton: You are still so naïve.   Dazki: Naïve and cruel, yes, I know. But as I said before, I'm comfortable with my naïveté, and I will live every day trying to make the world the better place that I wish for it to be.   Baxton: Why are you so keen to determine who is a monster and who is a man?   Dazki: No one is a monster. I just want everyone to be a better person than they are today. Little by little, everyone to become a better person for tomorrow, so that eventually the world becomes a better place.   Baxton: You lie to yourself.   Dazki: It's because I'm worried I'm a monster. Because I'm worried I'm not good enough for what is expected of me. Because I'm worried I'm not ready. So, seeing the best in others helps me see what I want to become. Selfish, I know. But I want to be a better person. By seeing the good in others, I try to at least come part of the way to that.   Baxton: It is foolish to see only the good in others. You have to see them for who they are. Not who you wish for them to be.   Dazki: Seeing them for who I wish for them to be allows them to become that person. Just putting a little bit of faith in them, like she put faith in you.   Baxton: Heh. "Faith". A terrible tool used by the powerful. Make your own decisions. Others will make theirs, surely.   Dazki: Yes, but —   Baxton: Making these decisions is a large responsibility. It would be foolish to believe they would not weigh on you. Living in this fantasy land where everybody is happy, and friendly, and they can change who they are to suit your needs and your desires? Perhaps you are not fit to determine the fate of others.   Dazki: You're right. I'm not. But I try to get better and better every day, so that one day I may be able to.   Baxton: Then listen. Stop living in this fantasy land of flowers and rainbows. Live in the real world, where decisions are hard.   Dazki: So you think the decisions I've made up to this point haven't been hard? You think I've not made challenging choices? Is that it?   Baxton: You convince yourself that the choices you made are right. Noble and just. But decisions are messy. People are messy.   Dazki: They are. And yet, I still try to make what I believe are the right decisions. Even if you disagree. After all, surely you would disagree with my decision to kill you? That was a hard, messy decision. I wouldn't take it back. It was the right thing to do, even for all the pain it's caused.   Baxton: So, you are keen to determine who is monster and who is man.   Dwardazik: Uh... hey, Dazki. He puts a hand on Dazki's hand. Don't let him get to ya too much.   Dazki: Thanks. (to Baxton) Maybe we'll talk again. If I need you again. He hands the ring back to Grogery. Thank you, Grogery, I needed that. And I think it provided some insight, as well.   Grogery: Glad to hear that was helpful for you.   Dwardazik: I could tell. Let's drop it for later.

Dazki sets all four Fossilized Melodies on the sarcophagus.