Episode 64: Ghostbusters

==Episode summary==
The episode begins with a content warning for suicide.
In Polaron, Krillidin has the standard astonished reaction to Rainbowdash, while Angel takes the opportunity to compare Liz's intelligence unfavourably to that of the giant hexapedal mount. However, Polaron Controller insists that "Orc 01" is still 14% more intellectually developed than "Specimen 742". Catching up with their friends, The Party discover that, other than GE-7 making progress on a new suit of armour, nothing much has happened in their absence.
Draven uses the Gemjump spell to convert their stored eldritch eyes into eldritch stones, allowing them to carry them whilst teleporting without losing their power. They jump to Draven's estate to grab some equipment before heading to The Basilica, but there isn't much else to do there, as Ivana has already moved to the safety of her father's castle, leaving only a skeleton staff behind. Given the nature of the setting, I should make clear that that's a 'metaphorical' skeleton staff. No necromancy involved.
There is, however, a ninja-looking Nezumi hanging around. He introduces himself as Kunai of the Nezumi-Zokuh, and reveals that Lord Kinekoro sent him to retrieve the plaque recovered from Polaron in Episode 41. He exchanges it for a small brown sack of jade, that both Angel and Draven appraise to be worth around 10,000 gp. Krillidin asks how long Kunai had been waiting for them, and he reveals that while he journeyed for several weeks "crossing the barrier", he arrived at the estate only two hours before The Party. He did all this because The Rahjs had helped his people to escape from "the monster Alyssa" and hide from her servants. He refuses to reveal the site of the natural portal he uses to commute, and Angel gives up on following him after realising that it would take ages to tail him to his destination, and it simply isn't worth it.
Arriving in New Vanover, The Party run into Mahar, who Zaheer had Sent to as soon as he was able. They continue on to The Basilica, where Black reorients his father (who has used the week since Black last saw him to regrow his severed face. They also reacquaint themselves with Thiswell and Higgins, and Draven explains his plan to cure the Astral Plague, using a captured incorporeal creature and some machines he plans to build with Andrew Midgarde's help.
While Draven works in the lab, the others head out to hunt down a ghost. Mahar had discovered an uptick in local paranormal activity centred on a local mill, which the miller fled several weeks ago. Zaheer and Mora set up a seance.
Little One gets bored quickly and starts looking around, soon finding footprints in the spilt flour on the floor, leading to and from an on/off lever on the wall. He throws some flour into the air to see if there's a disturbance, and immediately a glass candleholder falls down onto the table next to Zaheer, shattering. He notices nothing with See Invis, but the flour begins to stir and a ghostly voice moans "Get out".
Mora fascinates the ghost by playing on her violin, and an apparition of a plainly-dressed woman appears on the rafters [GET A PICTURE], but only invisibly. Zaheer sets a candle on the table and invites the ghost down to talk. She claims that "they blamed me, they persecuted me, but I was the victim". After a brief back-and-forth, she throws a sleeping bag down onto the table, and with a spot check, Krillidin notices an unususal pattern of stitching, which Black identifies as Verandi in origin. The ghost identifies herself as Melissa, and claims to be the victim of a man whose name she does not recall. She stabbed him to death during an attempted mugging, and the societal shame drove her to suicide. The ghost of the mugger fled with the miller, and Melissa cannot follow as she is not strong enough to go out in daylight.
Deciding to speak to the miller, The Party head into town atop Rainbowdash and en route speak to a number of locals about Melissa's case. Some allege that she had been wandering the area intentionally 'looking' for somebody to stab. They also learn that the miller runs a cheap B&B out of the spare rooms in the mill.
Arriving at her father's house (where she has been staying since fleeing her mill), The Party interrogate the miller, Hannah, and her father. They do not remember Melissa, but as Angel reads their thoughts with her Beguiler abilities, she detects another entity listening in - the ghost of the mugger, which is haunting Hannah directly, although it does not seem to be possessing her. Following a brief exchange, during which it becomes apparent that a small child is listening from inside the house, Zaheer forces the spirit out of Hannah, and he becomes visible to Little One's See Invis powers [GET PICTURE OF HIM TOO - 22:41].
The mugger reveals that he was only trying to escape Melissa's ghost, which had been hounding him even in death. He admits to the attempted mugging, but claims that Melissa was ready and waiting to stab him. Zaheer asks the ghost to help with Draven's research, claiming that the good deed may help his soul to move on. The mugger agrees, contingent on them stopping Melissa, and he moves into Krillidin's body for the time being.
They return to The Basilica, where Draven and Midgarde have already constructed some research apparatus, and drop the ghost off with the artificers, then return to the windmill to resolve something weird that don't look good. They confront Melissa's ghost, who freaks out, necessitating an exorcism. Zaheer lights his candle and begins summoning an etheric whilwind to pull the ghost into the flame. She begins throwing bedrolls at him, but Krillidin pins one to the wall with his arrows, Black blocks one with his shield and Angel and Little One destroy the remaining two in mid-air. Eventually, the ghost is sucked down into the candle, and peace returns to the mill.
Zaheer and Mahar take their leave, and The Party return to Draven, who is ready to begin the cure. He finds that his own levels of Astral Energy are higher than the others, hypothesising that this is likely a side-effect of the immortality he gained from the Oluana Spring. He plans to forge a breastplate imbued with the black sand he took from Urruk to block out any excess energy he may be leaking, but before he can begin, a guard summons him and Black to High Priest Matsomi's office.
The old priest tells them that the destruction of Glasshire, as well as that of the nearby hamlets of Heaven's Orchard and Dry Meadow, with hundreds of deaths, has led to a swirling rumour mill that threatens to get out of control. People on both sides of the brewing conflict are blaming each other, and suspicion is beginning to fall on the Hand and Gauntlet. He proposes that they begin to spread their own, simple and easily-digested, rumour in order to control the narrative. Angel checks in with her local Organisation contact and discovers that nobles from the antimonarchist faction have been spreading rumours that the destroyed townships were strongly anti-treaty, implicitly laying the groundwork for rumours that the government took them out. However, the Gauntlet is spreading rumours that the damage was wreaked by a small Dragon. She also discovers that even The Organisation is drawing a complete blank when it comes to tracking Jonasson down.
However, Little One worries that this will lead to the Draconic invasion of Castle that he saw in his vision, and pushes for an alternative scapegoat. They eventually decide on "A monster from the Shadowfell entered the Fadelands, destroyed several villages and then was stopped by The Orcslayer and The Hand of Sirius".
A week later, the apparatus to extract the Astral Plague is ready to go... NEXT TIME! On Tales from my D&D Campaign...
In a post-credits scene, Draven meets back up with Tobin, who gets Liz a new job as the Hand's new arms trainer.
==Trivia==
*This is the first episode to contain an official content warning.
*Rainbowdash's specimen number (742) is also the house number of the Simpson family. Given Demonac's fondness for Simpsons references, this is unlikely to be a coincidence.