Prologue
Saxi went with Mo to Arland’s to sign up for a Slumber test, as she was extremely exhausted still. They used a “tabaxi cab”, a rickshaw lead by the sabertooth tabaxi named Kurzon of the Shovel Tusks. He was working while waiting for the guilds to be approved.
After getting a wafer labeled with a “5”, they went back to Mo’s Tower and Saxi took the medicine. As she awakened, Mo was staring at her and said that she had talked in her sleep about many recipes for sauerkraut. Saxi had no idea why and was unsure if she had ever even eaten sauerkraut. As Mo seemed to be interested in trying them out, Saxi suggested he work with Pip to finish the recipes.
Nathan and Mari went to the Skyroot Forest to check on Jastra. The treehouse was being expanded by the goblins as they arrived. Mari almost barged in unannounced, but Nathan stopped her and they knocked on the hatch situated at the bottom of the structure.
Jastra didn’t immediately recognize Mari, as she was resurrected in a tabaxi body. She seemed to be unsure whether Mari was still Nikosta, as Jastra had never known of a reincarnated one of their kind. She admitted that she wasn’t a good mother to her first child, so she wanted to take this second chance very seriously. She asked them to tell Pinból that she missed him and wanted to get tea sometime. As Mari went back to her shop, Nathan went to train, albeit without Owen.
Stroop’s Waffle Nest
The party, and Pinból, met early at Stroop's for breakfast and ordered Wafflopolis. Binxie claimed one as his house for Nathan's shoulder. When the group finished breakfast, they returned to Pinból's house to gather the rest of what they needed for the ritual. Before they all entered the house, Saxi hesitated at the portal but wasn't sure why.
Pinból's Tower
Primeheart was given the urn, as well as other things to perform the ritual. Pinból told them that he had returned everything people had dropped off with him, except for the party's loot, because the house would still be Oisin's if the portal closing did kill VKTR.
Saxi expressed her appreciation for Pinból being so kind to her best friend. Nathan placed a streak of glitter in his beard in solidarity. Mari druidcrafted a sprig of heather for protection and gave it to Pinból.
Pinbol gave Oisin the Sending Stone to alert him when they were at the holy water basin, so that he could set up the ritual to distract Imelda. They talked with Pinból, who told them not to say goodbye. They chose to say they'd see him again instead. Pinból asked Primeheart to perform his and Oisin's spring wedding.
When the stepped out, Saxi ran from the portal for a minute, even crawling over buildings to get away. The rest of the group followed her, not sure why she did so. She didn’t know either. Something about the portal had temporarily terrified her.
Oisin stayed behind to talk with Pinból, promising that they’d see him again. They gave Pinból their holy symbol of their Goddess of the Dawn. In return, Pinból gave Oisin the only item he kept behind, the mirror ring. Oisin rejoined the group, and they set off to the portal.
The Caverns
The party stopped at the basin. Oisin used the Sending Stone to let Pinbol know to start the ritual. Owen gave everyone the waterskin filled with holy water. They all took a drink, and Saxi's mouth foamed and she took damage. Saxi tried her Divine Sense and could sense some sort of undead, but couldn't exactly pinpoint where. She realized that it was her, and this was the effect that Slumber had on her. The party tested if she took damage and healing normally, which she did, so they knew they’d be able to heal her if needed.
Nathan also revealed that he had purchased a magical prosthetic eye called an Ersatz Eye, which allowed him to see normally. The party let his vision acclimate a bit and then started down to the portal. They got near the portal and began the ritual.
While setting up, they heard someone coming down the path. They all readied themselves, but it turned out to be Amy, who had come to assist them. While performing the ritual, Haley also appeared. She forgave Mari and said they all needed to catch up after.
The ritual got to within a minute of finishing and the portal began to close, but a mass of tentacles ripped it open again and the group began to fight it to close the portal completely. The monster tried to drag Amy and Haley into the portal, but they were both freed, Amy by Primeheart and Haley by Oisin. Most of the party was able to cast spells on the monster, which didn't seem to do much damage. Saxi was able to use her paladin abilities to inflict massive damage to the monster.
Saxi and Oisin both fell vicitm to the creature’s ability to cause insanity and they turned their weapons on themselves, as did Amy. Nathan cast Mind Spike, and forced his way in to connect with the monster briefly, which caused a good amount if damage but also caused him to be affected by the insanity.
The tentacles started to retreat and portal began to close. One of the tentacles physically attacked Mari, knocking her unconscious immediately. Another tentacle attempted to physically attack Primeheart, but his symbol of Uhn began to glow and a flowery vine erupted from the ground in front of him,deflecting the blow entirely.
Saxi managed to break free of the insanity affecting her and did a lot of damage with a critical smite.The tentacles retreated fully and the portal closed, causing the insanity to stop for all of the party. Mari was healed and the party began to leave quickly, because no one had Sending to check on Pinból early.
Amy collapsed and she began to rapidly decay. Saxi collected her body to take back to Earl. As the party and Haley start to run, Haley collapsed as well. Mari went to her side. Haley told Mari that she loved her as Mari held her and Haley also passed on. Saxi picked up Haley to take her back and give her a proper burial.
As they continued running, Nathan noticed his shoulder felt lighter and found that Binxie was gone. He had been replaced by an owl feather. They made it past the rope bridges, and Mari turned into a horse to take Oisin back to Pinból's quickly.
Pinból's House
Mari and Oisin made their way in quickly and found the ritual room empty, only a checkerboard was on the floor. Oisin tried to use the clock again, but Pinból came in from another room, completely fine.
The rest of the group caught up and Pinból told them that Imelda was gone, but she had put up a fight. The group asked Pinból to check on Jastra, which he only did after he was told she missed him and wanted to have tea soon. He cast Sending to her and to Vasafra, getting positive responses back.
Owen offered to have the guard give Haley a funeral as she was one of them, and Saxi asked Owen to borrow his boat to take the remains of Amy to Earl. Primeheart left to take a walk around the city alone. Nathan took Mari home. After she went to sleep, he cast Find Familiar and was able to resummon Mags.
Saxi took Amy's remains to Earl. He was stoic at first, but as he told her about Amy being his confidant, he broke down. He told Saxi that he had hoped Seldanna would be a confidant as well, and still hoped she would be.
Oisin stayed with Pinból. Pinból had said they would see each other again, and told Oisin that they had to propose this time and that he’d say yes. Oisin gave him back the mirror ring as a "proposal", but agreed to properly ask later.
Secret
Owen went for a walk to the library and disguised himself as a custodian. He approached Ash and talked to the sword about what had been done. Ash called him “Champion” and told him there was still work to be done. As he was talking, Holly called out to him and told him that she had seen him outside. She never fell for his tricks. They planned to go out for coffee and beer to talk about what had just happened.
Full Episode
coming soon
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