Runelords 31.0 - Lingering Issues

In the morning, Khyr had come down with the same illness that had affected him twice before since coming to Materia. With him out of commission, wailing and moaning in a hotel room, Virgil, Shadliss and Eamon convened to discuss the plans for the day.
Virgil and Shadliss went to Mayor Rajdeep Luthra, knowing that he was at least a reasonably-skilled cleric and former adventurer. They convinced him to come help them subdue the ghast lurking in the Shimmerglen. Meanwhile, Eamon went to Luna and Aldern, informing them that they were going to go subdue the ghast and asking if the two of them could simultaneously go to the reservoir and check on the vat of ithilium to see if it was removed. They agreed.
Luna and Aldern snuck out of town, trying to avoid people's confused and harsh gazes at Luna's smell. They made it to the edge of town, and walked to the reservoir uneventfully. There was no sign of anything out of place at the lake, other than the water level having dropped significantly from before. Leaving many of their possessions on the shore, they walked into the lake to explore. The water was murky, but they made their way to the center. As they reached the center, a thick bed of seaweed grew up around them which hadn't been there when they last investigated. As they got closer to the vat, the weeds were dense and much taller than their heads. Before them, they sighted a strange shimmer in the water: some sort of magic barrier had been erected.
Beyond the barrier, they could see some Arms of the Few. They seemed to be moving painfully slowly, as they tugged and chopped at the weeds that hindered them. Luna stepped through the barrier and approached one; as she did, it seemed that it began to move faster and faster, so that it was moving at a proper speed when she sidled up beside it. Gesturing a greeting and request to go to the surface to the nearest Arm, it replied by motioning towards its robe-like body, quite entangled in weeds. It didn't seem bothered, but it was thoroughly trapped. Looking down at her own feet, Luna noticed that the weeds threatened to grab her as well. Making a hasty retreat, she escaped before they could entangle her like the Arm.
Returning to Aldern, he seemed extremely concerned about something. Swimming straight up, they breached the surface and Aldern explained that she had started moving extremely slowly past the barrier. Indeed, the sun had sunk low in the sky: hours had passed during what had felt like mere moments to Luna. Aldern complained of having a bad feeling about this place: the gods were watching it closely. The two reclaimed their things and started back towards town.
Meanwhile, Virgil, Eamon, Shadliss and Mayor Luthra made their way to the Shimmerglen in the late afternoon. The mayor covered the team in Hide from Undead, while Virgil used a Silent Image to create a decoy that would walk ahead of them on the boardwalk. Ready for danger, the group pressed into the dangerous swamp.
It felt like a tense eternity, but eventually they were rewarded: the filthy Aldern look-alike leapt upon the decoy, and the group took their opportunity to strike. Virgil attempted to ask the ghast its name and purpose, but he had no inclination to talk to his meal; the doppelganger lunged at Virgil and tore into him brutally. The rest of the team struck with everything they had and managed to fell the creature before it could finish Virgil off, much to their relief. 
Rajdeep healed Virgil and agreed that this was indeed a fearsome creature and he was glad for their vigilance in protecting the town from it, though he couldn't help but notice the striking similarity between it and the man they traveled with. Virgil and Eamon quickly brushed off the similarity, and collected the corpse into a bag of holding for consecrated internment in the morning.
Everyone made it back to town, where there was some serious conversation about the possibility of a third Aldern and his potential location and motives, and the ramifications of potentially raising the ghast they had killed through the magic of its amulet. The thought that there might be another person with his name and face on their way to Medinipur to claim his life and title for his own panicked Aldern, and he stressed the importance of returning to the city.Category:Rise of the Runelords