Temple Arc

Arc Summary
The party makes their final prepartions and disembarks on the Viridian Comet. The trip takes a week and two days and, while nerve-wracking for much of the party, passes without issue. Reides and Jorah have a heart-to-heart about Reides setting him up with the Kraken, as well as a conversation about constellations and stargazing. The airship drops the party at the base of the mountain before flying away to an actual airship landing. The party journeys up the mountain, arriving at a set of stone doors with an empty wagon parked outside. The interior of the ruins appears to be a temple of some sort, containing statues of the heroes of the Draconic Conflagrations slaying demons. The statues have been covered in blood in an attempt to desecrate them. During the party's investigation, Jorah discovers an alarm and ball bearing trap by walking into it. This alerts a number of cultists of Alzrius and babaus who were camping out in the temple to the party's presence. The party readily dispatches them, but find themselves accosted by a second wave as they attempt to take a rest. After surviving this encounter, they find and destroy a summoning circle in another room. They also discover a scrying orb and a burning sword similar to Thorak's. The party takes the scrying orb, as well as a number of magical items that were kept in a chest in a room that also contained an imprisoned non-Alzrius-allied fiend. The party explores the rest of the temple, finding grisly evidence of the cultists' activities here as well as a forge room. However, there's no sign of the mural Julia described. Kilwin spots a tablet flung across a river of lava. Ashara teleports herself and Jorah across to read it, learning that arms must be tributed to Odan for the way to be revealed. The party returns to the forge, which flings the burning sword into a river of lava when it's offered. Eventually, the party realizes that they each must place one of their personal weapons into the forge, where they remain unharmed. When Jorah parts with Quickbrand, the flames turn blue and a secret room opens in the entrance hall. The room contains six altars and wall carvings depicting the legendary heroes encountering a rift from the Abyss and the Burning Knight. It also has carvings of the six Abyssal Crests, allowing the party to learn the names of the Drape of the Cursed and the Woodwalker's Stride. Much to Reides's interest, the Wreath of Persana is worn by an unidentified robed triton. Magical lights connect the depictions of the Crests to a map of Lyvernus. Three of the lights point to the temple's location, one points to Falas, another points to Villane, and the last is in motion, quickly closing in on the temple. The party scrambles to prepare for battle, with Jorah running to the forge to retrieve Quickbrand. After a minute, a heavily disfigured Tyrian and obviously disturbed Slumberjack appear. One of Slumberjack's skeletal wings is permanently out, although it appears to be broken, and they wear the Drape of the Cursed. They use the orb on it in order to summon an undead bulette to help fight the party. Although the bulette harries Reides and Ashara and demands some of their attention, the party largely focuses their attacks on Tyrian. Kilwin attempts to reason with Slumberjack and manages to break the curses binding their sword and armor to them, but they continue to attack their former companions. This changes when Reides succeeds in boiling Tyrian to death with Scalding Splash. Slumberjack removes the thread that Tyrian used to sew their mouth closed and asks Kilwin to follow through on killing them. Kilwin refuses, still intent on helping them instead. Slumberjack dismisses the bulette, and Kilwin uses Dispel Evil and Good to at least lessen the outside influences on their mind. Slumberjack reveals that they're physically unable to part with the orb, but readily hand over the Drape of the Cursed. They also destroy the cursed sword. They also share that Tyrian is responsible for the state of their wing, as he tried to draw out their power but broke it instead. The party realizes they have no way of separating Slumberjack from the orb without hurting them, and Slumberjack is unsure if it's wise for them to return to populated areas now, so they agree to remain at the temple and keep the orb safe while the party continues their quest. After a heartfelt farewell, Ashara teleports the party back to Falas, with Slumberjack erasing the sigil after they've gone.

Session 83

 * Google Document (3-3-23)

We spend a few more days in Falas resting and preparing for our journey. Reides spends a lot of time working on his spellbook. Kilwin spends his days poring over the etiquette book. The book is a bit old, so he's not sure how much of its information is accurate anymore. He learns that, in order to invite someone to dance, you bow to them, offering your right hand and cupping your elbow with your left. You also wait to begin eating until after the highest-ranking person starts their meal. There's also a lot of information about the optimal spoon to use for different courses. Ashara spends most of her time with Kain. Jorah mostly relaxes, but makes multiple visits to the Temple of the Nameless God. He learns some funerary rites and some prayers to the Nameless God, although since specific veneration of them is rare, they're almost like requests or contracts made with them. Jorah is also able to pick up a bottle of magmawine from Urli.

On the morning of Winter's Dawn 14, we wake up bright and early to head to the airship landing, where a tealish green airship is docked. Kain brings Ashara to see her and the rest of us off. The two groups spot each other at the same time. The glint of Ashara's silvery dress and Kilwin's armor are both very conspicuous. Judging by our tickets, we have about 15 minutes before we need to board. Kilwin asks if we have everything. Ashara confirms she has the teleportation circle chalk with her. Kilwin hopes he brought everything and that if he didn't, Urli will hold onto it for him. Reides mentions that he'll need to look into those corsages Ashara mentioned when we're back in Falas. Ashara is excited about this and also suggests that we might find some flowers for it where we're going. She asks Kain if he'd consider changing his mind and coming with us, maybe sending a clone along. Kain says that's a bit beyond his capabilities! Ashara advises Reides that he can get one-up on Kain there. Reides mentions his Mirror Image spell, but doesn't think that's that advanced. Kain says he's referring to a physical clone though, which could also hypothetically be used for life extension. Reides thinks that's a little sketchy-sounding and Jorah straight up does not like it. Ashara smacks Jorah with her metal arm, but he's too hungover to really care. Concern is expressed. Jorah is pretty sure he was drinking but doesn't remember how much or why or if he was with anyone, although he thinks he had company. More concern is expressed. Kilwin casts Lesser Restoration on him. Ashara comments that her mother told her that drinking with company is fine but drinking alone is a problem. Jorah asks if any of us have flown before. None of us have, at least not for long, although Reides can technically fly on his own if needed. He hasn't yet though. Reides says that if any of us fall, Pepega will save us. To demonstrate, Pepega latches on to Jorah's shoulder and attempts to fly upward. Neither of them budge, although Jorah gets hit in the face with Pepega's wings. Eventually, he takes her by the scruff of her neck and lifts her off his shoulder. She calmly hangs in his grasp. Kain advises all of us to stay away from the ledge, but Reides thinks that sounds like the most fun place to hang out. Kain checks his pocket watch and announces that it's probably time for us to head up. He wishes us well, and Ashara promises we won't end up in prison this time. Kilwin's pretty sure there's no prison to put us in there! Kain says we should be fine if we're just going to Bastion, although he has heard the mayor is a bit skeevy. We won't be there long though! Kain tells us to have safe travels and tells Ashara he loves her. As we head to the airship tower, Ashara shouts out that she loves Kain too! Jorah mutters under his breath that he loves Kain too.

As we head up the stairs, we catch up on the past few days, since Ashara has spent it apart from the rest of the party. Ashara prods Kilwin for details on his arrangements with Grinlief, although Kilwin doesn't have much to report and admits he's very nervous about the whole thing. There's a lot of etiquette things to remember. He asks if the bowing thing is real. Ashara admits she's not a good person to ask. Reides comments that it's different underwater. Down there, you bow and do an elaborate spin in the water. Kilwin observes that bowing seems to be a constant here. Kilwin is also nervous about the abundance of spoons, although he figures he'll just copy whoever is sitting next to him. If Grinlief is doing it wrong, he will have company! Ashara asks if Jorah is taking anyone to the ball, and Jorah says he invited the Kraken. Ashara says she supports him, but the Kraken scares her a lot. Jorah says she's not that bad! Reides rats him out, saying that he was the one who invited the Kraken on Jorah's behalf. Kilwin confirms that it was originally Reides's idea to boot. Reides admits that he feels a little bad because he felt like he was forcing Jorah into it! Ashara thinks Jorah could use some peer pressure. He's stunned by her confidence in him. Ashara and Kilwin bond over being told by Jorah to think before they say things. Jorah says it's fine because he also doesn't think ever. Reides says he's good at thinking, which Kilwin agrees with.

As Jorah remarks that this is a tall tower, we reach the top. There's a number of gates, one of which is open and leads to a gangplank connecting the landing to a green airship: the Viridian Comet. Next to it, Karrl stands with a clipboard and a small metal contraption. Everyone has their tickets ready to go, while Jorah needs some time to rummage in his things. The rest of the party boards, and Karrl uses his contraption to punch a hole in each of our tickets. Jorah finally finds his ticket and joins us. Karrl advises us to keep our whole body on the ship at all times- while the alternative might be tempting, it's very dangerous. The crew will show us to our quarters on board. The trip will take a week and two days, and we'll be dropped at the base of the mountain, since there's not many good places to land up top. The rest of the journey will be up to us. Reides compliments Karrl's clipboard and hole maker. Karrl explains it's called a hole punch, since it punches holes through paper or parchment. Reides wants one! Karrl tells him he knows what line of work he needs to enter then! Reides wonders if Karrl means holing, but Karrl explains you get to use one if you work in the airship offices. Ashara asks if seasickness will be an issue. Karrl says airsickness is a whole different beast, but she'll be fine. She should try not to puke on the deck though, or the cabin boys will be deeply unhappy. We cross the gangplank, which has guardrails. Jorah is gripping those, white-knuckled. He is clearly not happy about this! Kilwin tells him it will be fine, very conspicuously staring straight ahead. Reides is the only one who looks down. He sees that we're at least a hundred feet up. He loves it! After we make it across, Karrl stows his clipboard and begins gesturing to people on the tower, who unsecure the gangplank. On board, a crewmate winches the gangplank up into the rest of the airship. One crewmate more finely dressed than the others approaches us. He's a human man with a clipboard. He has short hair, buzzed on the sides but longer on top. He takes attendance, making sure the whole party is accounted for. He messes up Reides's name though, pronouncing it "Rei-des." As he guides us to our quarters, Reides asks his name, which is Vel. He takes us to the back of the ship and down some stairs. We go through some more doors toward the back of the ship, where there's a hallway leading to four rooms. Vel takes out a ring of four keys, unlatches them, and hands one to each of us. Each one has a room number etched on it and is to be returned before we disembark. There are three meals a day, served at 8 AM, noon, and 6 PM in the mess hall, which is on the other side of the ship on the same level as our rooms. Jorah asks if we're allowed to go above deck at night. Vel says it'll be lit, so that shouldn't be an issue. He does advise Jorah to be careful, since we'll be hundreds of feet in the air. Jorah understands! Reides asks if it's okay to go up and watch us take off. Vel says we'll take off soon, but that should be fine. Reides decides to head up. Jorah and Ashara decide to spend the time get settled in their quarters, but Kilwin figures this is the only chance he'll have to see this, so he goes up with Reides. Jorah and Ashara find that each room has a single bed, a desk, and a trunk for our belongings. Each room also has a little window, currently showing a view of Falas's walls.

Above deck, the crew unfurls the Viridian Comet's massive sails. It makes Reides miss Aske a bit! Kilwin reminds him that he'll see him soon! There's a loud sound as the order is given to turn the aeroturbines. Two cylinders on the side of the ship start curving, turning from their upright position to being slanted upward. Green crystals stick out of them and begin to pulsate with energy. Below deck, Jorah and Ashara hear the creaking and humming of the aeroturbines. The airship lurches upward and forward before stabilizing and beginning its journey southward. Reides is delighted, while Kilwin just keeps repeating "oh my goodness." In his quarters, Jorah is muttering "Up is not a place for rangers" over and over again. As we travel south, Reides spots a giant lake of pitch black water, which Reides recognizes as the Blackpool. He asks a random deckhand if he knows why the water is black. The deckhand says he doesn't and that kind of schooling is too rich for his blood. He says Reides might be able to find out if he asks around though. Reides says that if he does, he can pass it along! He tells the man he has a spell that would let him contact him whenever, now that they've met. The deckhand says he'd prefer he didn't. Reides is sad, although the view helps. Kilwin is still having a moment, although he admits it's very pretty. It reminds Reides of when he would swim to the water's surface and look down to Aquos from above. We can see Falas and its thousands of buildings below, with the terraces beneath them and the buildings outside the walls dotting the landscape. There's small forests, large sweeping plains, and dirt roads that connect everything.

As the journey continues, we adjust to airship travel. Kilwin contacts Grinlief to learn if he has any allergies. While he claims not to, he also clearly describes having a mild shellfish allergy. Jorah does get used to being so far up to an extent and starts staying up late to stargaze above deck. He only recognizes two constellations from his youth, though: Jorah the Hunter and the Dragon. Reides manages to finish his spellbook work over the course of the journey, although he also spends a lot of time above deck. One night, as Jorah comes up to stargaze, Reides approaches. He says he likes how cool the night air feels. Jorah doesn't think it's that warm below deck, although it gets chilly above later on. Reides is looking forward to it! Jorah remarks that winter is definitely on its way. Reides admits that he wanted to make sure the two of them were cool, since he meant what he said about feeling he forced Jorah into being set up with the Kraken. He just got caught up in the moment! Jorah says it's fine. He figured Reides had some kind of plan in mind, it's just that he doesn't really know the Kraken at this point. Reides says that's why he wanted to check, even if it's a bit late for it. He hopes that Jorah gets to know more about the Kraken, though. He admits that Ashara is right about her being scary, but he also thinks she's really cool! Jorah agrees that, while too many people he's worked with have been bastards, the Kraken seems to have good intentions. Reides agrees. He respects her a lot and feels safe around her, which might be why he's connected her and Jorah in his mind. Jorah makes him feel safe too! Jorah thanks him for that, and Reides says he's welcome because it's true. With that settled, he asks if Jorah knows any good stars. Jorah doesn't know a lot about individual stars, but says there's probably some. He asks if Reides watched stars as a kid. Reides tried when he worked up the courage to peek above the waves but admits that he's not well-acquainted with them. He thinks he should read about them, though. Jorah immediately backtracks on something he was about to say, but Reides is having none of that. Jorah tells him how, when he was really young, Cassyra used to take him and his sisters out to see the night sky. She would teach them the constellations and their associated stories. Reides thinks that sounds like a lot of fun! Jorah reminds Reides that he got his name from one of those stories, and points out the Jorah constellation. The stars are arranged like a person holding a bow and running forward, with the handhold of the bow represented by the brightest star. Reides is amazed by surfacers and their ability to see pictures in the sky! Jorah explains that when he lived with Julia, he would sneak out to stargaze. He lived on the top floor, so it was easy to climb up to the roof. Reides wants Jorah to teach him the constellations, although Jorah's not sure he's cut out for that. Reides suggests researching and learning about them together in that case! Jorah admits that stargazing is a good way to get some quiet time, and Reides agrees it's very peaceful. Jorah asks what Reides thinks we'll find at the temple. Reides admits he has no idea and is still recovering from everything that happened in Aquos. Jorah agrees that was absolutely insane, even without a personal connection. He also admits that he was weirded out by being underwater. Reides has the converse opinion about the surface, so he gets it. Jorah points out that the surface didn't immediately suck Reides into dealing with an invasion, which Reides concedes. He says Jorah should come back when everything is rebuilt, especially since he still owes Dhudus a sparring match. It's an open invitation for everyone, since no one should have any qualms about the party coming back, not even dear old dad. Jorah observes that Khavas had some very strong opinions about us, although Reides says he has strong opinions about a lot of things and we shouldn't take it too personally. At any rate, Jorah doesn't think we can spend our whole lives running with the Crests. Reides agrees but thinks we just need to take it one step at a time. If these ruins don't give us the answers we need, we'll just have to keep looking. Reides's not sure what he'd do if you'd told him a year ago all of this would be happening. To say he wouldn't have believed it would be an understatement. He'd probably just laugh! Jorah thinks he'd be in Seaton if not completely off the continent by now. Reides thinks that sounds interesting and mysterious at least, although Jorah promises he's not that mysterious. Reides wonders if he would have died in the devastation if he hadn't gone on this journey, since he was living in Port Valor. Jorah thinks that if we hadn't gotten caught up in all this, there would probably be another group in our place doing a better job of it. Reides looks at him disbelievingly. Jorah offers him some firewhiskey from his flask, which Reides gratefully accepts. Jorah wonders, out of all the gods, why he wasn't chosen by Bacchanal or someone instead. Reides says fate works in mysterious ways! Jorah says he'll drink to that and takes his flask back. They spend some more time hanging out and vibing.

On the fourth day of the journey, Kilwin goes above deck to see if he can spot Cowersby or Laketon from the air. To port, he sees a great expanse of trees along with one enormous tree rising out of the middle of the forest. He figures that's Malino're. He moves to starboard where he sees a great expanse of farmland amids plains with a large lake to the southwest. Near the lake, there's a collection of buildings with a larger road running through. Past that, it's difficult to make out, but there's a collection of smaller buildings and pastures. Kilwin gives his home a wave. As he does, a sailor passes him and reminds that they can't see him up here. Kilwin sputters a bit and manages to say, long after the sailor is gone, that it's a symbolic gesture. When the distant sight of Cowersby fades, Kilwin goes back below deck.

On the eighth day, there's another lurch as the aeroturbines are turned again, with the aerocrystals facing upward for the descent. There's a large mountain nearby, with a verdant base that gives way to a dark slate peak. To the west, we get an aerial view of the Spine of the World, giving us an idea of just how large the mountain range is. On the ninth day, we crest farther down in the valley below the mountain. We can make out where the plains give way to marshes and just barely make out some buildings that are probably Bastion. The aeroturbines shift again to hold the Viridian Comet aloft. Vel finds us again and comments that there was only one near-falling incident this flight. Kilwin is distressed until Vel says he was just kidding. He explains that there's no good place to truly land here, so they'll have to lower a ladder for us to climb down the last twenty feet. They winch down a ladder made of rope and planks to the ground. They don't have space on the ship for a more solid one! We decide that Reides should go down last just in case one of us falls. Jorah goes first, at a speed because he very much wants solid ground again. It feels a bit precarious, but he manages to steady himself on the planks and the descent isn't too bad. When he reaches the ground, he's very relieved but he does get a bit landsick. He doesn't want to go back up there. Kilwin advises Ashara to go next, since he thinks he'll take a while. She's nervous, so she goes noticeably slower than Jorah did. She stops at several points, since she's worried the wind will blow her off. At one point, the airship lurches, although Ashara manages to catch herself on the rope before making her way to the ground. She's also a bit landsick and just sits on the solid ground. As someone on board yells at someone to keep her steady, Kilwin makes his way down painfully slowly, frequently pausing after a rung. He makes it down without incident. Reides begins his descent as Pepega flies down to pick at the dirt. As he goes down, a strong gust begins to snap the ladder back and forth. Reides is very excited and whoops, even as the wind flings him off the ladder. Reides casts Featherfall on himself and prepares to land on his feet, although he moves his legs to the side when Kilwin moves to catch him. When Reides's weight sets in, Kilwin has to quickly put him down though. Jorah comments that it's small blessings that the only one of us who fell was the only one who can fly. We wave up to Vel, who gives a thumbs up before the ladder is pulled back up into the airship and the Viridian Comet flies away once more.

Reides offers everyone some saltwater taffy to help with the landsickness, but everyone declines. Ashara says it's a texture thing. We look at the mountain that we have to climb now. The greenery ascends a sizable portion of it, but eventually gives way to the dark, almost black stone. Jorah suggests we get a bird's-eye view, looking pointedly at Pepega. Reides wargs into her, and she flies up as far as their bond will extend. She can't see much, since it's a really tall mountain, but she does manage to spot a faint path, including where it begins. Reides guides the rest of the party there and we begin our ascent. The path twists around the mountain like a corkscrew. After a few hours, we make our way past the treeline. As we step onto the stone, we notice the bottoms of our boots are being coated in black powder. Our steps seem to be grinding the stone into dust. Reides touches the ground with his hand and gets some on it too. Reides and Ashara recognize this type of rock from the Exeter and Raven Rock. It seems to be common in high-heat areas like volcanoes. Reides is able to Presto Chango it away though.

Eventually, we reach an alcove blocked by rocks. The only way to really examine it is to approach. We think this might be our spot! Jorah gets closer and peeks over the wall. He sees, carved out of the stone of the mountain itself, a large stone wall with two stone doors braced with metal. There's also stairs and a platform leading up to said doors. Nearby, there's an empty wagon. That might be a really bad sign! The wagon has been completely cleared out, and any animals that might have towed it are gone too. Reides and Jorah look for tracks or blood that might indicate what happened. There's still a thin layer of ashy rock, so they can make out some faint footprints leading toward the stairs. Jorah attempts to discern how old the tracks are, but these are a bit outside his range of experience. We figure we just need to go inside. Reides, on edge now, casts Mage Armor. Jorah casts Pass Without Trace on the party, which also prevents the ash from sticking to our shoes. Reides also puts Pepega in her pocket dimension. Jorah tests the door, pushing on it before realizing he needs to pull. Ashara examines it and determines it's a regular door with no traps. Now that he's pulling, Jorah successfully opens the door to the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians.

In the entrance hall, we immediately see statues of heroes that have been covered with blood, as if to deface them. The two statues by the door are stabbing into statues of demons, which have been spared the defacement. Jorah recognizes the statues of a stout dwarven woman and an elven man on the other side of the room as Audha Wyrmaxe and Jorah. We spend some time discussing how this is weird, since as far as we know, the heroes of the Draconic Conflagrations didn't deal with demons and Alethustria's last encounter with Alzrius predates them. Kilwin points out that 600 years isn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things, and that Father Glasny's parents could reasonably have been alive at the time. While the temple could have been partially repurposed at some point to honor them at some point, it's still weird and suggests something's up. As we investigate the entrance hall, we also notice some pools of lava that seem to flow beneath the floor. There's also two doors leading further into the temple. With no real indication of where we're going, we decide to search the left path first. The left door is opened to reveal a short hallway, with one door at the end and another to the right. Jorah leads the way, but as he approaches the other end of the hall, he hears a quiet snap. He looks down and sees a broken wire before him. As he does, two ceiling tiles swing open, dropping thousands of little orbs in front of him, eventually covering the ground around him. An alarm sounds throughout the temple. Jorah simply looks defeated. Reides grabs an orb that rolled far and determines they're just regular ball bearings. The door at the end of the hall swings open, revealing a humanoid figure in a cloak and mask. He turns back and announces that we're here. His attempt to throw a dagger at Jorah, however, is unsuccessful.

Jorah sees that the room at the end of the hallway is filled with people in similar clothing. The door to his right also opens, revealing a babau, bearing its teeth and already covered in blood. It welcomes Jorah in Abyssal before unsuccessfully attempting to claw him. Another babau rounds the corner though, and Jorah also spots a person in different attire toward the back of the room. Reides casts Chill Touch and manages to instantly kill the guy who first opened the door. Jorah realizes that moving out of the ball bearings might be an issue. Jorah slashes at another cultist by the door and shoots a crossbow bolt through the eyehole of his mask. Jorah manages to make his way out of the ball bearings, announcing that there's a lot of them. Kilwin goes farther into the hallway and casts Spiritual Weapon, hitting the babau as he also casts Toll the Dead on it. From inside the northern room, someone casts a spell, summoning another Spiritual Weapon in front of Kilwin. A light also curves around the corner at him, an unholy, desecrated version of Sacred Flame. It does a negligible amount of necrotic damage to him before he manages to shield off the weapon's attack. More footsteps clatter in the other rooms. The babau enters the hallway, carefully making its way through the ball bearings and looking us over. It swipes at Kilwin with (limited) success. The second babau also makes its way to the hallway and also treads very carefully through the ball bearings. It finds even less success in attacking Kilwin, though. The cultists begin to group up by the western door. One throws two daggers at Jorah, which he manages to dodge, although another manages to score a hit on Kilwin. Reides, seeing the gathering, figures it's time to showcase a new spell. Smoke climbs up his arms and a strange cloud envelops the hallway. The thick plumes of a steam geyser erupt, scalding and partially melting most of the cultists and burning the babaus. It's Scalding Splash, a Reides original! With most of the cultists dead or badly wounded, the babaus look to Reides angrily. Reides backs up!

Jorah plunges Quickbrand into one of the babaus, the blade alight with the Nameless God's power. The sight is downright inspiring, bestowing temporary hit points on Kilwin and Jorah. The babau barely survives, but falls when Jorah's second strike scratches it. He moves forward toward the other one, stepping over its body. A cult fanatic emerges from the northern room and reaches out toward Jorah with a spell, which Reides counterspells. The fanatic moves his Spiritual Weapon back toward Reides and strikes him in response. Another cult fanatic comes out of a door in the western room and Commands Jorah to drop his weapons. The enchantment starts to take hold, but Jorah's wrist burns and snaps him out of it. A surviving cultist calls out "For the glory of Alzrius" before tossing a dagger at Jorah, missing, and roaring in frustration. Reides moves back into the hallway to cast Bigby's Hand. He slaps the cult fanatic in the hallway, adding five extra bolts of energy from the Wreath of Persana. The fanatic falls to the ground, dead. Jorah tries to kill the other babau. He has nothing to say to these things. Ashara hits the other fanatic's shoulder with Fire Bolt, ruining his robes. He points at Jorah and Commands him to approach, but Jorah stays put. The last cultist very carefully makes his way into the ball bearings and draws his scimitar on Jorah. He's not even close. Reides just punches him into the ground. Jorah casts Command on the last cultist standing, commanding him to kneel. As the fanatic drops to his knees, Jorah calls out in Dwarvish to not let him get away. Kilwin figures Jorah wants to interrogate him. Ashara lightly chills him. The babau points at Jorah, whose breastplate starts to glow with heat, burning him. However, Reides quickly slaps it with Bigby's Hand. The babau barely survives, but Jorah's armor goes back to normal. Ashara throws another Fire Bolt at the fanatic, burning off a third of his hair and an ear. Kilwin tries to kill the babau and almost succeeds, but not quite. The fanatic is furious that Jorah used his own spell against him and casts Hold Person on him as he gets back up. This one takes hold. Reides finishes the job on the babau, the fingers of Chill Touch grasping its neck tightly. Bigby's Hand grabs onto the fanatic, crushing him to death despite Reides's best efforts. As he dies, the alarm finally ends.

Kilwin tries to heal Jorah up, and Jorah adds some of his own healing to that. Reides apologizes for killing the guy, since he figures Something was up with what Jorah said in Dwarvish, but no one is all that upset. Reides examines the body, but only finds normal things: robes, a dagger, some ordinary reagents. There's no sort of documents or orders on him. Upon further investigation, the western room is a makeshift mess hall, while the northern room has been converted into temporary barracks. Reides spots a raw onion among the cultists' food and takes a big old bite. Jorah is absolutely horrified. Investigating the barracks, there's a number of bedrolls and two piles of hay where the babaus presumably slept. We also find a journal kept by one of the cultists. The most recent entry details how the group was commanded to come here and camp out a week ago, standing guard for any visitors, especially "those ones." We assume that's us! He wrote that it's hard to sleep here with the thing in the room next to the dining hall rattling at all hours. He slept as far away from it as possible so he wouldn't have to look at the door. The entry cuts off abruptly, since we seem to have interrupted him writing it. Flipping back a page, we learn that the group summoned "the wrong demon" the other day and locked it up in the room across from the barracks. It's also the room where they're keeping their money. We figure it's better locked in there than hanging out around here. Kilwin flips through the journal for the author's name, but it's not in there. As the group passes into the hallway, now that the alarm sound is gone, Kilwin makes out the very faint sound of metal rattling, like a chain. After some walking around, he manages to find a hidden door on the south wall of the hallway. There's some faint scratch marks, signs of a threshold, on the floor there. It seems that the door pushes in and isn't completely closed. We wonder if we should investigate the eastern halls of the temple and circle back or take care of this now before it has a chance to escape. In either case, Jorah would appreciate a short rest.

Session 84

 * Google Document (3-10-23)

Weary from the last fight, we begin to settle down to rest. We'll deal with the secret demon room later! Jorah closes some doors in the west wing to make the carnage less obvious. The ball bearings get cleared away and we all sit down in the mess hall to nurse our wounds, keeping an ear out for any more demons. Unfortunately, around 30 minutes in, Kilwin and Jorah start to hear clicking on the tiles in the main hallway. They approach the mess hall doorway. The sound comes closer before the hallway door is opened by a babau. It turns back to its companions, another babau and an armanite, and, seeing the results of the last fight, yells something in Abyssal. Jorah realizes it's calling for further reinforcements. Unfortunately, it's time for Round 2.

Kilwin manages to mess up a babau badly before ducking out of sight of the hallway. The other babau rushes forward and, seeing Jorah as the most convenient target, casts Heat Metal on Quickbrand. Jorah manages to hold on, but it's the old spicy sword! Reides and Ashara unleash some cantrips on the demons before Jorah steps out into the hallway and shoves the secret door open. The babau seems upset as chains rattle more loudly from the southern room. Jorah screams "Come fucking get some, you piece of shit" in Abyssal before running back into the mess hall and slamming that door shut. There's more noise from across the way as the demons' reinforcements begin to arrive. There's a clattering of hooves and a slam against the door. The stone door buckles and cracks begin to appear in it. A claw, crackling with lightning punches through as an armanite rips the door down. Chains rattle, dragging across the floor as another fiend enters the hallway. The demons stare at it as it stops, seemingly waiting for something. Kilwin continues his assault on the babau, who points him out to its armanite friend before trying to attack him. It's unsuccessful and is unceremoniously squashed by Bigby's Hand. Ashara casts Mind Whip on the armanite. It finds purchase, although she's a bit disappointed in its damage output. Jorah returns the spicy sword favor to the first babau, killing it. He also learns from experience that armanites lack the same resistance to non-magical attacks that babaus have. Another babau and armanite come from across the hall. The first armanite unleashes a bolt of lightning on Jorah and Ashara. From the south, the chain devil walks into view. It looks around and, deciding that it has no friends here, whips its chains around wildly, hitting whoever. Whoever happens to be Jorah and Kilwin. The chains whip and wrap around Kilwin, holding him in place and digging into him with magical spikes. Kilwin attempts to heal everyone. A babau tries to cast a spell on Jorah, lifting him slightly off the ground, but his paladin training allows him to shake off the effect. Reides moves Bigby's Hand down the hall, behind the armanites, but punches a wall since he can't see the Hand anymore. He then attempts to cast Scalding Splash on the chain devil and the armanite. The armanite resists the heats, while the chain devil fully has a nice moment in the sauna. Ashara's Psychic Lance incapacitates the front armanite. Jorah steps into the hallway. He has no idea what a chain devil is, but it's attacking Kilwin so he goes off on it. Hunter's Mark is involved. The other armanite unleashes a bolt of lightning on Jorah, Bigby's Hand, the chain devil, and the other armanite. The bolt fizzles out just before reaching Ashara. The chain devil whirls its chains around again, whipping Kilwin again and wrapping around the front armanite. It also peers around the corner at Kilwin as a figure made of shadows rises up before him. No one else can see it but somehow, Kilwin recognizes this figure as Slumberjack. Kilwin quickly realizes it's an illusion but is still shaken.

The babau retries its spell on Jorah. This time, Jorah is lifted up to the sky and pressed against the ceiling. Reides slaps the chain devil with Bigby's Hand, although it unnaturally contorts its bones to shrug off the blow. Jorah realizes he can still crawl across the ceiling, so he sheathes Quickbrand and positions himself to fire some good crossbow bolts at an armanite. The other armanite runs into the barracks. It takes a slash from the chain devil to get in a tail strike on Jorah, scoring a crit. It keeps moving into the barracks. The other armanite is gushing blood and clearly has some broken ribs, but it decides to go out with a bang. It electrocutes Kilwin, Ashara, and Bigby's Hand. The chain devil shoves some of its extra chains into the ground, causing chains to sprout out of the ground and wrap around Reides, Ashara, and the armanite in the barracks. Another chain sprouts out of the ceiling to wrap around Jorah. It also whips itself for flavor. The last babau runs into the hallway. It goes under Jorah to attack the chain devil who's hurt its friend. Reides casts Ice Storm into the hallway. The babau ducks under the wounded armanite for cover. While none of them take the full brunt of the ice, when the frost clears, the armanite and chain devil have fallen. The chains sink back into the floor and ceiling. The babau's concentration is broken, so Jorah begins to gently float to the ground. He lands next to the babau and draws Quickbrand on it. The surviving armanite retreats further into the barracks. Kilwin is finally able to move into view of the hallway and approaches the babau. It casts Darkness, magically shrouding the hallway. It attempts to flee, and Jorah and Kilwin both swing at it, Kilwin doing his best without sight. His mace lands a hit on the babau's dead body, Quickbrand already plunged into its back. Reides and Ashara join their friends in the hallway. Jorah moves into the barracks, noticing that the armanite has made it to the other side of the room. He fires his crossbow at it. It survives and busts out of the other door between the barracks and mess hall. It runs forward to send a lightning whip to everyone in the hallway. It begins to close in on Ashara. Kilwin heals everyone before running up to and around the armanite. Reides grabs the armanite with Chill Touch before using Misty Step to go into the mess hall. He also backs away from the ruckus. Ashara reaches out to Kilwin, who takes her hand. She then casts Thunder Step, teleporting the two of them across the room as a loud bang sends the armanite reeling. Jorah runs back to the hallway and fires two shots. One hits the wall behind Reides, but the other hits its mark. The armanite runs toward Kilwin and Ashara. After its first two attacks on Kilwin are repelled, it gets a sly look on its face. Its tail feints toward Kilwin before whipping around and striking Ashara. Kilwin rushes around the armanite, casting Toll the Dead on it. As it focuses on him, it doesn't notice the mace of divine light floating behind it. Spiritual Weapon smashes into the back of its head. The armanite topples forward, slamming into a stool.

The party regroups, glad we all made it out. Kilwin heals Ashara, who gives him a hug. Jorah admits he only feels about as bad as he did before we sat down to rest, which he blames Kilwin for (in a nice way). Ashara and Jorah spot something in the eastern room, which is open now. They immediately head over. Ashara sees an arcane circle of blood and flames, which she suspects is still active and capable of summoning more demons. There's also an altar with a splattering of blood, a flaming longsword, and a crystal orb. Ashara briefly disguises herself as a chain devil. Jorah asks Kilwin to stomp out the flames, since he's the one with metal boots, but Kilwin opts to try Dispel Magic instead. The flames begin to flicker out around the circle until only the blood etchings remain. Kilwin then breaks those up with his boots. Reides is disappointed that he didn't get a chance to look at it first. He turns his attention to the objects on the altar now. The sword looks a whole lot like Thorak's did. We realize we should destroy it, but none of us have that kind of firepower and we don't have a sheath to safely transport it anymore. Reides also ponders the orb, which is clear and pristine. He realizes it's some kind of scrying focus. Jorah doesn't think we should break it, although Kilwin thinks it might be a good idea if Reides cast Identify on it. Reides agrees, although we decide to investigate the rest of the area before stopping to do spells.

The altar room has a southern exit that's blocked off by collapsed rubble. There's also a path further east that seems to have been opened up with manmade tools. The passage is mostly dark, although some of it is lit by exposed pools of lava. We come across a large chamber with more makeshift bedding, as well as more pockets of lava. There's two other passages out of the chamber. Jorah leads the party down the farther one, which quickly dead ends in a gruesome sight: patches of blood, along with piles and piles of bones. There are signs that bodies were dragged here, as well as some more intact remains off to one side. Jorah wants to come back and do something about this, but for now, we check out the other passage. It leads to an ancient forge. There are large piles of coal, arms and armor laying on altars and shelves, and a stream of lava flowing nearby. Kilwin suggests throwing the new burning demon sword into the lava. There's also a path blocked by more rubble. There's no signs of the carving that Julia described. We head back to the main entrance hall, Reides cleaning up the statues with Presto Chango as we go. When we make it back to the site of the battle, he stops to examine the chain devil. He realizes the chains are coming from its body and that it's one with the chains. It's also not wearing any clothes, covering its body only with those chains. Kilwin mentions to him that it made him see Slumberjack. It was an illusion, but it was still pretty spooky! Jorah doesn't think the chain devil is aligned with Alzrius in any way, and that it more likely pulled Slumberjack's image from Kilwin's own mind. Kilwin agrees, but still thought it was worth mentioning.

Down the secret hallway, there's two small rooms. One is covered in gashes, with one barred door ripped completely off its hinges, metal bent toward the inside of the cell. Its twin is hanging open loosely. The other cell is untouched and contains piles of coin, as well as a chest. The door is locked, though. Jorah gets his thieves' tools out for their first real challenge. Reides decides to go back and cast Identify on the scrying orb, while Kilwin goes back with him to start on clearing the rubble in the altar room. Ashara asks if she can help Jorah with the lockpicking, although there's no mechanism on the other side of the door for her to work with. Jorah asks her to search the bodies in the hall for some kind of key. As she does so, Kilwin decides to go around to the forge side of the rubble blockage, since those pieces looked easier to move. He tells Reides where he's going and tells him to scream if anything happens. Reides simply nods because he's in the middle of casting. Jorah manages to make short work of the lock, calling out to Ashara that he doesn't need the key anymore. She still searches through the bodies for good measure. She doesn't find anything on the fiends, but the cultists have some pocket change and small trinkets that may or may not be related to the cult of Alzrius, including a pendant with the symbol of a vortex. Ashara pockets all of it. As Kilwin enters the large chamber, he notices a stone tablet on an island on the other side of a lava flow. It looks out of place there and has text on it. It looks like it would be easy to memorize, although it's too small for him to read it from this distance. It doesn't look like it would be moved easily. Kilwin starts doing some mental math on how plausible it would be for him to long jump across the lava, possibly using a tiny island in the middle of the flow, before he remembers he has friends who can just teleport. He heads back, stopping to tell Reides what he found and that he's going to get Ashara and Jorah. Reides can still just nod! Kilwin gives him a thumbs up! As Jorah and Ashara survey the gold, Ashara jokes that they should just cut and run. She does think this would help with us wanting to buy a house. Jorah doesn't think a house will cost all that much, since it's not like we're looking for a castle. He's gotten by with much less. Ashara's not sure! They begin counting the gold, but Kilwin comes in to tell them about the tablet and they lose count. He helps them out with the recounting.

Reides finishes casting Identify and learns that the crystal is a regular scrying focus, unaffected by any enchantments. He also knows that scrying foci are usually pretty valuable! He takes it with him and meets up with the rest of the party, bringing them up to speed. They also give him his share of the gold. Jorah also opens the chest, correctly assuming that it's too protected for the cultists to bother trapping it. Most of the contents are rotted with age, although there's a few things that seem to have resisted it. There's a flat iron rod with a button on one end, a vial of glittering liquid, and a cloak of some kind. We take those with us, and Reides agrees to examine them later. Kilwin guides the rest of the party back to the tablet he spotted. Since we won't all fit on the island, Ashara uses Dimension Door to take Jorah across. They notice that the tablet has protruding stone bits on the back, as if it had been ripped from the wall and thrown here to hide it. Jorah reads the archaic Dwarvish text out to Ashara, who copies down a translation in Common. It says "Tribute ye arms to the god of the forge, Odanne, and ye shall be shown the way." He notes that it's not what we're looking for, but it seems like the first step to finding it. Ashara teleports them back to the main part of the room, and they bring Reides and Kilwin up to speed. Jorah notes that the spelling used for Odan indicates that the writing was very very old.

We head to the forge we found. Jorah examines the weapons around the forge. They're of dwarven make but otherwise seem completely normal. Kilwin wonders if we should offer the cursed demon sword, but agrees when Jorah says we should start with these. Jorah asks if there's any objections to him dropping the longsword in the forge. Kilwin suggests using tongs, in case it heats up quickly. Jorah sees the point! He uses the tongs to put the longsword in the forge, where it quickly melts away. Jorah repeats the process with all the weapons in the forge. They all melt, but nothing happens beyond that. Ashara wonders if we're supposed to put our literal arms in the forge. She considers volunteering, although Kilwin tries to get as close to touching the flames as he can without hurting himself first. He gets pretty close, but it becomes apparent that it's a regular forge with regular heat, making that a bad idea. Reides says literal arms should probably be the absolute last resort. We decide to try the evil sword first. We go back to grab it. As Jorah offers it to the forge, he asks Odan to take it and make the world a better place. An invisible force spews forth from the forge, repelling the burning sword and launching it into the lava stream. Jorah thinks that's fair enough! He tips the sword over with Quickbrand, fully submerging it. We realize we do have our own weapons. Kilwin offers to go back to trying to clear rubble, since he spots a shovel, but Jorah says this is the way forward. Kilwin admits that he has his mace and can part with it. Jorah offers to replace it if it melts, so he doesn't have to try Quickbrand. Kilwin places the mace in the forge. Surprisingly, it doesn't sink and remains intact. Other than that, nothing happens. Kilwin tries to cede his mace to Odan, but nothing continues to happen. Reides suggests a weapon from all of us. He and Ashara place their daggers into the forge. Likewise, they remain intact. Kilwin suggests that Jorah use the dagger he gave him back in Hommlin. Jorah admits that he either gave that dagger away or lost it at some point. He doesn't have it now! Kilwin scolds him. Ashara offers to lend Jorah her mace for this, but he's pretty sure that defeats the purpose of the whole thing. None of us want to do this! Without many other options, Jorah plunges Quickbrand into the forge, blade first. The forge goes black, as does the stream of lava. A blue light erupts throughout the room and a rumbling is heard in the distance. The lava and forge now glow with blue fire. As we leave the room to find out what changed, Jorah looks back at Quickbrand meaningfully.

When we make our way back to the entrance hall, we see that the northern wall has opened up, revealing a large room lit with four blue braziers. There are intricate carvings across the walls, as well as two large doors. The story told by the carvings starts on the left side of the room. A dwarven woman and elven man stand over a fallen dragon. A regal human rests next to them, with her blade in the ground. In the next image, the dwarf and elf (presumably Audha Wyrmaxe and Jorah) happen upon a crack of some kind. They're crouched, hiding as demons spew forth from the crack. At the doors, there's depictions of six items with their names listed in Dwarvish. Some are familiar: a dwarf repels demons with the Plate of the Ancestors, a mage casts fireballs with the Bands of the Archmagi, and a triton wearing the Wreath of Persana sends out a beam attack. Reides needs a moment because he has no idea who this person is but very badly wants to know. The others are new to us. The Blade of Lyvernia is wielded by a different human than the one in the first carving and seems to be shining with different elemental energies. The Woodwalker's Stride are worn by an elven man, leaving the fallen in his wake. The Drape of the Cursed is worn by a spellcaster who draws energy from the decay of their enemies. The next carving shows the heroes placing these artifacts on six pedestals. After that, the heroes leave with the artifacts, no longer glowing, as the symbol on each of the Crests appears on the door. We notice there's also six pedestals in this room. Higher up on the wall, there's a map of Lyvernus. There are six glowing lights on the stone, emanating from the carvings of the heroes by the door. Each light points to a specific point on the map. One points to Falas. Another is farther north, around Villane. Three correspond to the location of the temple, while the last is a bit further south. That light is in movement, coming closer to us.

Session 85

 * Google Document (4-7-23)

As we watch the sixth light on the map approach us, the scale of the map makes it difficult to tell exactly where it is or how fast it's moving. However, Kilwin is pretty sure we have at least a minute before it arrives. We all collectively realize this is probably very bad. Jorah takes off running back toward the forge, swearing and cursing Tyrian's entire lineage even though we technically don't know it's Tyrian. The rest of the party begins to follow, although Kilwin wonders aloud if someone should stay behind and keep an eye on the altar room, since it's wide open right now. Ashara turns back. Kilwin really meant himself, but stays in the summoning circle room, attempting to hide behind the door and keep watch. Reides also lingers. After about forty seconds, Jorah reaches the forges and grabs Quickbrand, as well as Kilwin's mace. As he does, the door to the altar room begins to close. Ashara stays put for now. Kilwin hears the door close and tells Reides what he's pretty sure happened. He thinks "Oh no" very hard in Ashara's direction. Inside, the altar is mostly dark now, although there are still some blue lights from the back of the room. Jorah makes it back to the summoning circle room, red and sweaty, and learns of Ashara's fate. Ashara then uses Dimension Door to leave the altar room. Kilwin, now "hiding" behind a fully open door, tells Reides and Jorah that she's okay. Ashara rushes toward her friends as Jorah casts Bless on himself, Kilwin, and Reides. Kilwin closes the door after Ashara as she makes it into the room.

Kilwin is still pressed up against the door and hears the large entrance doors swing open, as well as two sets of footsteps. Kilwin raises two fingers to the rest of the party. He then hears a voice calling out "Come out, I know you're there." Kilwin whispers that it's Tyrian. Jorah just opens the door and steps out. The two figures in the main hall are familiar, but less recognizable than before. One looks like Tyrian, but he's been through the meat grinder. There's a large gash across his face, leaving some of his teeth exposed. There's also a number of scars across his body. The other person is tall, dark, and now slightly hunched. On their left side, a black skeletal wing with a few feathers drags on the ground, pulling ash along with it. A trail of mushrooms grows and wilts where Slumberjack walks, and a blue cloth with purple trim is draped over their shoulder. A blue symbol glows on it. Tyrian notes that we found their hideout and that following us from here was easy, even while he was indisposed. He also says that this is where our heroic journey ends, gnashing his teeth (which, again, we can all see). He plans to kill us, take the Crests we've gathered, and be rewarded in kind. He expects to have the last Crest soon too. Jorah remarks that Tyrian's not looking so great and asks if this is maybe not paying out as well as he expected. Tyrian says it's paying out just fine: A common revenant would be forced into the nearest corpse, while he gets to keep his own body. He pushes back his greasy hair, revealing more wounds. He says he'll heal up in time, but we won't be so lucky. For their part, Slumberjack is staring off toward a patch of lava, avoiding look at us. In their visible hand, they're tightly gripping the purple orb. Tyrian draws his rapier and tells Slumberjack to do it. They press the orb against their cloak and a dark aura surrounds them. Ghostly wails erupt from the orb and winds begin to whip around the entrance hall, funneling into the room with the party. Reides begs them to stop, and Kilwin says they don't have to do this. For a moment, Slumberjack's hand slackens before unnaturally jerking back to the cloak. Part of the stone floor of the entrance hall lifts as something rises from beneath. It appears to be a bulette, but parts of its skeleton are visible and its flesh appears to be rotting. Slumberjack steps forward and draws a familiar sword with a faraway look in their eyes.

Slumberjack points at Reides and holds up the orb, which launches some beams at him. Reides manages to shield two of them, but gets hit by the third. He tells Slumberjack to come on! Tyrian gazes at Jorah with an unholy flame in his eyes, and Jorah's arms lock in place. He's paralyzed. Kilwin tells Slumberjack that they left so now he's just gonna speed through his ideas. He runs up to them and grabs their arm, which makes their eyes widen for a moment. He then casts Remove Curse. A light spreads from his hands across their armor and to the sword, missing the cloak. Slumberjack drops the sword, but their demeanor is otherwise unchanged. Kilwin looks pleadingly at them. Reides casts Scalding Splash, sculpting around Slumberjack in addition to party members. Tyrian and the undead bulette seem to take the full brunt of it. The bulette burrows into the ground, vanishing from sight. Slumberjack grabs Kilwin by his arms and stares into his eyes. Their eyes are badly bloodshot. They seem to be pleading for something from him, but the words can't escape them. They reel back and step away before casting again, sending more beams from the orb. He presses the emblem on the Plate of the Ancestors, though, and a shimmering force surrounds him, deflecting the eldritch beams. Tyrian's arm reels back as his hand is coated in flame, reminiscent of the Burning Knight. He throws the flame at Jorah, blasting him. Kilwin follows Slumberjack and asks them to hand over the orb. They move it behind their back as they keep backing away, wing dragging behind them. Kilwin lashes out at Tyrian with his mace, furious at what's been done to Slumberjack. Tyrian easily knocks away the mace with his rapier and grins, revealing the full mouth of teeth. Reides asks what the fuck Tyrian did to Slumberjack. He casts Chill Touch, which connects, causing Tyrian to grit his teeth and look at Reides with rage in his eyes. Reides just says he wants his question answered! Jorah's paralysis fades, although he has seen the face of death and is frightened of Tyrian. He still tries to fire a few crossbow bolts. There's a loud crumbling behind all of us as the bulette surfaces by Reides and Ashara. It bites Reides. Slumberjack sends more volleys toward Kilwin, their wing getting in their way. Tyrian tells Reides that he just made Slumberjack more pliable to what needed to be done. He grins at Kilwin before stabbing him. Hands also come out of the ground to grab him and hold him in place. Kilwin tells Tyrian that he made up his mind for him then! He blasts Tyrian in the face with Sacred Flame. Tyrian tries to shield himself with his arms, but part of his face is now a ghoulish red color. Kilwin also attacks with Spiritual Weapon. Jorah conquers his fear and approaches Tyrian. Quickbrand ignites as Jorah slashes upward and, on a second strike, makes it almost a third of the way through Tyrian's trunk. Jorah tells him to die and stay dead. The divine energy of the smite seems particularly angry. Reides casts Mirror Image, which absolutely confuses the bulette. It decides to give up and try eating Ashara instead. However, its bite misses her completely. Ashara casts Dissonant Whispers on it, which sends it running. She draws her second dagger and tries to stab it, but it just bounces off its hide. Slumberjack falls to their knees with one hand on their head. They begin pulling something out of the orb. Each soul coalesces into the shape of a blade. The blade has wisps floating off it and light skitters across the floor. They take forceful steps toward Kilwin, as if their movements aren't their own. The blade doesn't make contact but somehow cleaves through him, the wails of the damned ringing in his mind. Tyrian is now very focused on Jorah and stabs him. The hands reach up from the ground and grab him as well. Kilwin blasts Tyrian again, bringing him to close to (another death). He tells Slumberjack that they don't have to be afraid of him or listen to him or anyone else. Reides screams at Tyrian to get the fuck away from Slumberjack before casting a Scalding Splash. The last thing any of us see is Tyrian trying to jump out of the way before he's fully obscured by white smoke. We hear the sizzling, though. As the steam begins to clear, we see Tyrian with his flesh burning, covered in red welts. He reaches an arm out and whelps in pain. He points at Reides, saying "I'll get you." Reides responds "Stay dead, you fucking scum."

Jorah and Kilwin remain grappled. Jorah fails to break out of the hands. The bulette rushes back down the hallway and bites Ashara. She casts Dissonant Whispers on it again, sending it back to the hallway. She also tries to stab it again and doesn't succeed again. Slumberjack falls to their knees, looking at Tyrian's burned corpse before looking up at Kilwin. They reach their hands under their mask and there's a ripping sound before blood begins to trickle down. They say that Tyrian's gone (for now at least) and asks if Kilwin remembers his promise. Kilwin points out that he was very evasive about that particular promise but admits that he does. He hasn't given up though and tells Slumberjack that we can still fix this. He also asks if Tyrian really did that to them. Slumberjack seems to focus on the orb and we hear a loud thump from the hallway as the bulette, en route to Round 3 with Ashara, immediately drops dead.

With all obvious threats gone, Reides asks Slumberjack what's up with the orb. They know that it contains the souls of those who died in Port Valor, although they imply there's other souls within too. They refuse to give it to us though. They admit they're not really sure what will happen if we take it from them and they're also not sure how much they can give away, even with Tyrian gone. Ashara asks if they could communicate it telepathically, but Slumberjack refuses. They do, however, grab the cloak and put it on the floor, pushing it toward us. Reides picks it up. It matches all the descriptions we have of Port Valor's Crest. Kilwin offers to try another idea he had to help Slumberjack and casts Dispel Evil and Good. He's surrounded by a shimmering aura, which moves to Slumberjack as he touches them. They crawl back for a moment but stop as their demonic plate begins to dissolve into a puddle of black tar, leaving Slumberjack's basic chainmail behind. They look down at their hands and ask what Kilwin did. He says that he asked Alethus to free them, if she could. He asks if they feel better or different. They say it's still up there but distant now. Kilwin also passes on what Glasny said about Slumberjack's guide being an imposter, although he's not sure how much that really matters at this point. Reides asks what Tyrian did to them, and Slumberjack shows him the bloody thread that bound their lips. They confirm it was nothing magic though. Jorah, still on edge on account of The Injuries, asks if Slumberjack is feeling like throwing any more giant death orbs. They don't feel it right now, although they're not sure how free they are to speak. It speaks at night. The orb is bound to them somehow and they offer to let us try to take it. Ashara tries. As soon as she touches the orb, she's overwhelmed by the screams of the souls within and immediately lets go. Kilwin also tries. He hears the screams and his vision clouds over with darkness and swirling apparitions. He holds on to the orb for what feels like hours to him, but once he lets go, he realizes it's only been a few seconds. He also takes psychic damage from touching the orb longer. The orb remains in Slumberjack's hand. Kilwin asks if Slumberjack hears that all the time. They do. They also know that if we break the orb, it should free the souls, but they won't be able to be brought back. Ashara says she's been getting by okay but doesn't recommend losing an arm.

We examine our options and realize we don't have a lot of them. We can't take the orb from Slumberjack and none of us are eager to break the orb. The cult knows we're here and we don't know exactly what they'll send next or when, so we can't just hang out here. Reides tries to take the orb with Mage Hand. Although he doesn't have any terrible visions and he manages to yank Slumberjack forward, the hand isn't able to dislodge the orb. While none of us like it, doing nothing for now seems like the play. Slumberjack suggests that Kilwin consult with Alethus if he can Ashara offers to take Slumberjack with us when we teleport, although they're not sure if they're okay to really be around people. She asks them to break up the circle if they stay behind. Jorah remarks that a defensible mountaintop fortress isn't the worst place to be in Slumberjack's situation. Reides thanks Slumberjack for giving us the Crest. Slumberjack says it wouldn't be a good idea for them to keep holding onto it anyway. Reides admits he wants to see the carving of the triton one last time, although the altar room is closed off again. Kilwin's not sure it's a good idea to expose it again, although Slumberjack confirms that the cultists already found it. In that case, Kilwin needs time to set up for Commune anyway! Slumberjack says that everyone in the temple needs to place a weapon in the forge. Jorah reaches for Slumberjack's cursed sword, but Slumberjack kicks it into a lava pool. As it sinks, it remains untouched by the heat. Kilwin reminds Slumberjack that, while he doesn't want to harp on it, he said graverobbing was a bad idea! Slumberjack doesn't have another weapon, though, so they'll need to step outside. Reides says it's kind of silly anyway, but Slumberjack still goes outside the temple's doors, staying in sight of the party. Before Jorah can limp too far, Kilwin gives everyone a heal.

Jorah gives Tyrian's remains a kick as he walks past, bringing Quickbrand and Kilwin's mace back to the forge, where he hangs out for a bit. As the altar room doors open, Reides yells out a thank you to Jorah, which Ashara telepathically relays. Reides takes some etchings of the carvings around the room. The ones depicting the individual Crests are small enough that it's easy to get them on a page. The lights of the carvings shine through the page. Before he leaves, Reides meaningfully presses his hand against the carving of the triton hero. He tells them that he's going to find out who they are. He then leaves the altar room. Ashara relays to Jorah that Reides has cleared the door, so Jorah gathers the weapons again and begins the walk back. As he carries the bundle, he grumbles about being Jorah the paladin and Jorah the door operator. Slumberjack steps back in, and Reides thanks them for letting him take a look in there.

Kilwin finishes setting up the ritual and casts Commune. He asks if Slumberjack is safe to be around people. The answer is unclear. He asks if the orb can be separated from Slumberjack without harming them. The answer is perhaps. He then asks if the souls will be able to rest if we break the orb. The answer is yes. Kilwin relays this to the rest of the party. None of us want to break the orb, but we agree that it's good to know it's a possible last resort. Kilwin asks Slumberjack what happened with their wing. Apparently, Tyrian tried to draw out their power and keep their wings active permanently. It didn't work, and now they can only summon one wing at a time. Jorah takes the opportunity to kick what's left of Tyrian into a lava pool. Reides is glad to have gotten him again. Kilwin remarks that he's not usually glad when people are dead, but this time he is. Slumberjack notes that there's enough supplies here to last them a while and that, if we saw the carvings, we know that we have to come back here anyway. They need somewhere where they can be alone but easily found. They'll be waiting! Ashara suggests the ancient Paisodos's villa, although that's a bit of a walk. Kilwin asks if his Sending messages were getting through. Slumberjack says some did at least. Kilwin is relieved and lets them know that he might be in touch that way. He admits that it feels weird to just leave them, though, since it feels like we just got them back. Reides asks Slumberjack what they want to do. They say they want to be free, alone in their head, and enjoying some split pea soup. Reides says he wants that for them and that this isn't fair. He mentally resolves to embark on Split Pea Soup Quest so he can at least replicate the taste with Presto Chango. Slumberjack assures that they'll keep the souls in the orb safe until we figure out what to do. Reides says that means a lot. He approaches the orb and tells Needle that if they're in there, he'll get them out. As Jorah says his goodbyes, Kilwin cuts in saying he has one last thing to try. He pleads to Alethus for direct intervention. While he feels the radiant warmth of her presence, there's a veil that's too thick for her to pierce. Kilwin thanks her for her help, though, and says he thought it was worth a try. Maybe next time! Slumberjack tells us all to stay safe, and we tell them to stay safe too. Ashara says it was nice meeting them and, although Slumberjack has plenty of food, leaves a bread ration for them anyway. She finishes the teleportation circle and the party returns to Kain's room.