Taint Not Thy Mind

"Taint Not Thy Mind" is the thirteenth episode of Verse 4 of the Ballad of the Nightmare Krew.
==Official Description==
"At long last, the Nightmare Krew has arrived on the doorstep of the reason they ventured into Wildspace: a vestige of the Illithid Empire, the Mind Flayers responsible for Reya-1 and the Fall of Mobiaux. The Krew, with the help of Kallias' Neogi vassal, Æg, have infiltrated the Illithid Science centre, narrowly escaping the Mind Flayer Commander and its pet Sibriex. But as the Krew heads to leave, it is unclear if they're being genuinely allowed to, or if they're walking headlong into a trap."
== Plot==
===Part 1===
Part 1 begins at the illithid base on the moon Haven, where the Nightmare Krew are pretending to be thralls of Ember, who is himself disguised as an illithid. The Krew are escorted to a flesh-walled meeting room by Second Officer Kavaron, having just left the prison and the harrowing sights within.
Alone, the Krew discuss their plans and how to get around the language barrier, as none of the Krew speak Undercommon or Deep Speech. Kallias transforms into their Scion of Jormungandr form, then eats one of the brains in jars that are in the room for refreshments, but they do not absorb any knowledge as they had hoped.
KEVIN begins a ritual to cast Comprehend Languages on himself, with a plan to telepathically translate for Ember, who will respond to the illithids in Common. Ember attempts to pray to his patron Cori for assistance, but the prayer is intercepted by Vecna saying, "You're in the wrong neighborhood."
The others investigate the room and Lilith finds a lever in a locked drawer. When Kallias discovers one brain jar is fixed to the table and twists it, Lilith pulls the lever, and a secret doorway reveals a colon-like corridor.
Ryujin, Lilith, and Kallias explore down the fleshy corridor while the others remain with KEVIN. When he finishes his ritual, they all catch up with the first group, closing the door behind them. At the end of the corridor, they all find another closed sphincter doorway with a panel to the side. The Krew hears a squishing sound through the wall. Thinker hacks the panel to open the sphincter slightly. Inside, they see someone's quarters with an intellect devourer inappropriately mounting an indeterminate object in the corner. Rather than engage, they all return to the meeting room.
Ember opens the main sphincter and demands to know why they've been waiting so long. With KEVIN telepathically translating the guards' responses, Ember orders one of them in Common to go get Garvanax, then closes the sphincter. The Krew hears Garvanax approaching with others and they swig some whiskey before taking threatening stances.
Garvanax enters with guards and thralls, and Ember demands he bring them to their leader. Garvanax asks what they wish to say to the Exalted Mind, but Ember implies it is covert information. Garvanax tells them he will call for an escort to take them back to their ship, and from there to the planet Glyth and the Nexus of Oryndoll. Ember insults Garvanax for making them wait so long, and Garvanax leaves.
Worried that their plan has gone poorly, the Krew decide to teleport back to the Lucid Dream, but a green gas spews into the room, poisoning everyone except Kallias, Thinker, and Ryujin as they are leaving.
The Krew teleport to the deck of their ship and they scramble to take off. The base defenses of Haven activate, and a mind blast cannon fires at them, stunning Leonidas, Fim Fam, and Ember, and dealing them psychic damage. As the ship pulls out of the bay, Kallias takes out the Event Horizon and fires at the mind blast cannon, but misses. Lilith fires with the Lucid Dream's cannon, succeeding in disabling the artillery. They race toward the planet Glyth, blasting through the atmosphere aiming for the old capital of Oryndoll.
*
===Part 2===
The Lucid Dream dives through the dark clouds above the desolate city of Oryndoll. The only sources of light are two green glowing auras, which appear brackish and necrotic in nature. One of these auras emanates from what is presumably the Nexus at the center of the city. The other is a shipyard with hundreds of nautiloids being refitted, many of which appear to be ships from Raya-1's fleet. 
Seeing this, Kallias offers to transform into their full Leviathan form to annihilate the shipyard whenever the Krew leave the planet. Ryujin marks Kallias with a glyph on their hand so that, if needed, he can teleport them back to the ship.
The Krew dock the Lucid Dream on the outskirts of the city and fly the dinghy in. They pass through the rubble and the rain, feeling the ominous nature of the green fog pressing in on them. 
Lilith, Fim Fam, Rittenhask, and KEVIN hear a voice in their minds asking their names and why they have entered Oryndoll. Fim Fam attempts to find out if it is Vecna, but the voice curses the name, saying Vecna is its sworn enemy. The Krew reveals their intent to destroy Vecna, and the voice, presumably an elder brain, offers a deal: enter the Nexus and cleanse the Sanctuary, and it will help them fight their common enemy. Upon being asked for more information, the elder brain says, ”Sanctuary is all. Sanctuary is my spawn, my past, my future. I am Sanctuary.” 
Ember drops his mental shield and demands the elder brain to swear on its progeny that it will give them safe passage through the city, which the elder brain swears. Ember asks what its goal is, and the elder brain replies that it and its progeny only wish to have a space to exist and feed, if not to subjugate as they once did.
The Krew discuss taking the deal. Kallias lets their mental shield drop and tells the elder brain that it is not enough to promise them help, but it must swear not to go after anyone in their system. The Krew suggest alternative sources of food for the illithids, and the elder brain seems amenable. 
The Krew accept the deal, but make it clear that any betrayal will result in consequences. They fly the dinghy through the ruined city, following the green taint to locate the Nexus. There, they debark and enter the main sphincter on foot. 
Within, Kallias leads the way through the festering corridors, but fails to notice a boil before stepping on it, releasing a necrotic gas which injures the party. Fim Fam, badly wounded, takes a healing potion from Thinker, becoming inebriated as a side effect. Rittenhask heals the party a moderate amount before they set off again down the putrid halls. 
They encounter a large sphincter that is sealed shut with iron bars. Leonidas rips the doorway open, and they all enter into the cavern beyond. A heavy mist parts, revealing Sanctuary, a diseased-looking elder brain floating above a brackish green pool. Sanctuary tells them they must drink from the pool to enter its realm and cleanse it. 
Hearing footsteps coming from the hall beyond, Kallias wordlessly hurries to the pool and drinks. Their body goes under the surface and disappears, then Leonidas jumps into the pool and drinks. The rest of the Krew each follow. 
The Krew wake on a rocky shore with a green sea stretching beyond and the shadow of Sanctuary floating above. They turn around and see an archway carved with illithid runes. Sanctuary tells them to cleanse each room of the corruption. Frustrated but determined (or drunk), the Krew pass through the archway. 
In the chamber beyond, they come across a rocky decline to a pond with three humanoid-shaped cairns. The stones of the cairns are a mix of blue, green, and white, and they are lightly hovering in place. Sanctuary tells them they must set right what the corruption keeps apart, and to watch their step and watch the water. 
Lilith tells the Krew to spread out for tactical advantage against whatever may jump out. Ryujin releases his drake while Thinker attempts to move the stones with his mind. The room starts to shake, and they hear a shout as someone hits the rocks. 
==Locations==
*science complex on Haven
*aboard the Lucid Dream
* Oryndoll, a city on the planet Glyth
*within the mind of Sanctuary
== Characters==
===Player Characters===
*Ember of a Forgotten Fire
*Fim Fam Doodles
* Kallias Myr
*Leonidas Goldspear II
*Lilith La Fleur
* Thinker/Rek'Niht (played by Will)
*Ryujin Valtameri
===NPCs===
*Kavaron
*Rittenhask
*KEVIN
*Garvanax
*E. B. Farnum
*Vecna (voice)
*unnamed illithids
*unnamed thralls
*Sanctuary
==Tarot Card and RP Warm Up==
The tarot card for the episode was The Sun, drawn by Woody.
The roleplay warm-up question for the episode was: "What time of year was your character born, and what is their relationship with that time of year?"
==Notes==
This episode celebrated the three-year anniversary of the Bards of New York.
"Taint not thy mind" is from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
==References==