Episode 21: The Wrathful Diamond

**Episode 21: The Wrathful Diamond** (C1E21) is the twenty-first episode of the first campaign of The Table is Yours: A Role-playing Adventure Show. The Faded Fates deal with the aftermath of Isa's swing as she is controlled by the unseen hand of a Trespasser God...

## Synopsis

### Resurrection

Codex rushes up to Wash’s lifeless, halved body and lets out a deafening scream as she collapses with grief. A crackling pink energy erupts from her and encapsulates everyone as it seems to reverse time and puts Wash back together as if nothing happened. Just as her surge of energy fades away, a giant diamond erupts from the earth, and an aura of hatred and violence emanates around the Faded Fates.

### The Gang Gets Angry

Everyone but Isa is blown back, leaving her in the center of the aura, surrounded by wind, with the diamond. Simultaneously: Isa snaps out of her trance and remembers what she has done. She looks up, sees the diamond, and feels drawn to it. One shouts out a warning to Isa and readies her rifle, telling Isa that she will shoot her if she reaches for it again. The aura infiltrates Terrance’s mind as he sees One preparing to shoot Isa, and all he can think is that he wants to stop One. Shae tries to cast a spell into the range of the aura, but it seems to nullify magic. Isa, not heeding One’s warning, uses her axe to swing at the diamond. Terrance charges at One while chugging a serum and uses his strength as Terry to bend One’s gun and forces her to miss.

On the other side of the aura, Wash gathers himself, trying to make sense of the way his body is feeling. He slowly regains his memory and looks at Isa who is reaching towards the diamond. The radiating anger finds its way into Wash’s mind, and he wants to hurt Isa for what she did to him. His eyes and mouth start to drip with gold radiance as he pushes through the boundaries of the aura toward her. He makes it through, pins her to the ground, and knocks her out, all the while gold radiant fire dripping onto her skin from Wash’s body. Just as soon as he knocked her down, Rush, in wolf form, bounds up the mountain and claws Wash’s back, knocking him unconscious as well. Rush leaps up and grabs the diamond in his maw. He runs to the other side of the path to give Willow, who had followed behind him, enough time to nullify the aura. Codex manages to drag both Wash and Isa outside of the diamond’s aura.

Shae runs to where One and Terry are. Terry is beating himself, practically shaking with rage; the combination of the aura and his serums is more than he can contain. He looks at Shae and tells her he needs to hit something, anything. Shae, thinking that the aura will knock Terry down, tells him to go after Rush. What Shae doesn’t know is how intense Terry’s desire to hurt is. He charges his way through the aura and takes two more serums, his veins glowing orange and his eyes wild and bloodshot. He is an unstoppable force. He brings his fists down on Rush, letting out all of the rage he has. Willow knows that Rush is in danger and that being in wolf form made him stronger but more susceptible to damage. As Rush drops the diamond, Willow uses all of her strength and magic to nullify the aura immediately and throw Terry against the side of the mountain, sacrificing herself in the process. Rush is alive, the Faded Fates are alive, but Willow is dead.

### Decisions, Decisions...

Rush shifts back to a humanoid as the diamond shrinks in his hand; he takes it over to Isa, who has just been healed by Howl, as was Wash. She looks up at him and apologizes for what happened to Willow… she warned them to stay away. Ignoring her apology, he asks if this is what was calling to her. She nods. He tosses it to her, saying, “then it’s your problem”. He turns and makes his way back down the mountain, not before allowing Isa to heal him. Wash picks up Terrance’s unconscious body, and Shae pockets Willow’s sunglasses that fell to the ground after her body disappeared. The group gathers up and stands in silence as the lingering rage leaves their bodies. One tells Isa to give her the diamond because she had dealt with one before. Isa refuses. She puts the diamond in the pocket of her cloak and pulls out something else, a ruby sending stone she realizes Cazamir placed in there without her knowledge. Isa tells the group that she believes the god attached to the diamond is the Scarred Warlord, the god of hatred and violence.

As the group starts arguing over the best use of the diamond, Isa uses the red sending stone to call Cazamir, who appears in a spectral form in front of everyone. She explains what happened and that they don’t know what to do with the diamond. Isa thinks they should bind him to someone like what Orathia did, but Cazamir explains why that could be dangerous. Orathia is bonded to the god of pain and suffering, but she wallowed in those feelings already. If they were to attach The Scarred Warlord to someone, that feeling of hatred and violence would potentially consume them. Cazamir’s theory is that the wishes are potentially influenced by the god they are attached to, so depending on the wish they make, it could be tainted by hatred and violence. He tells the party that the safest bet is to wish the god behind the Divine Gate, even though it will anger Fiara because they will not learn any new information, but it will probably be better to experiment with a less violent god. Codex and Isa are still in favor of binding the god to someone, but One, Shae, and Wash all agree that it is the safest bet to wish him behind the Divine Gate without cutting the wire. Isa holds out the diamond and wishes for the Scarred Warlord to be sent to and locked behind the Divine Gate, and for a moment they all see the god appear in front of them, extremely tall with red horns coming out of his eyes. And, for just a moment, he looks pleased and then in an instant, he is gone.

### Shreds, You Say?

The Faded Fates rejoin Rush and Howl at the bottom of the mountain. Rush tells the group they are going straight to Carpedit. Codex and Isa suggest taking a rest, but Rush doesn’t care. He tells them if they want to rest he won’t stop them, but he is going to keep moving. Eventually, after a couple of back and forths with Isa, Rush says that they can rest once they reach the town.  Isa starts moving again, and Codex follows begrudgingly behind, After several hours of walking, they reach an overlook with a view of Carpedit, and a small zigzagged path trails down the mountainside to the unlit town.

Rush sighs and begins his descent, and everyone follows suit. Once they reach the bottom, they realize how ominously quiet it is. The town seems lifeless as they approach the gates. On the ground just after entering, the group sees what had been described to them before they came to the Wilds. Ribbons of skin, no blood, no bones, just piles of skin on the ground. Rush looks around quickly and locks eyes with a silhouette on the other side of town. It is far away, but its form is imposing. It is tall, with glowing white eyes, almost humanoid, with long claws… or are they fingers? Talons? Rush cocks his head towards Howl and tells him to get everyone out of there. Howl is unsure, but Rush is not, so he almost growls at them to leave immediately. Howl asks the party where he should take them, and Shae describes their keep. Wings burst from Howl’s back as he begins to incant a teleportation spell. Just before the spell takes them away, Codex and Isa see Rush transform into a wolf and charge at the beast. The last thing they see before Shae pulls them into the teleportation circle is the creature raise one of its clawed hands and bring down a building in one fell swoop.