S01E27 - Complicating Matters

Complicating Matters is the twenty-seventh episode of season 1 of Top of the Round.

Back on the surface, the group learns there is much more at play in the world than they could have ever imagined.

## Detailed Synopsis

The battle with the icy rock worm is over.  The trio briefly heal.  When Se’ku heals Talice, he spots the gray veins in her arm where the old woman cursed her.  Chaz checks out the spot where the worm emerged.  It is a crystalline tunnel down. Concerned that there are more dangers ahead, Chaz makes the call that the group needs a long rest before continuing onward.  However, even with the worm dead, the current cavern is still freezing, so the three return to the previous chamber.

Chaz invokes the shadowy power of the Gloaming Court. This creates an invisible sphere 30’ radius that grants +5 to perception and stealth checks, and any light within the sphere is not visible outside of it. They take their long rest.

Upon awakening, the trio debate if the trial is over or not. Se’ku and Talice feel the battle with the worm was probably the end and they should return the way they came. Chaz feels they should journey down the tunnel the worm left behind. Chaz tries calling out to Mizula for an answer, but gets no response. However, he then notices the Shambling Mound left behind as guardian has reanimated and is watching him.

Chaz casts Speak With Plants and asks the Shambling Mound if the trial is complete. The Mound says it is, but is willing to spar with Chaz if Chaz still wants to fight more.  Chaz declines, then confers with the others, and then the trio return the way they came.

When they arrive back at the cave on the side of the cliff, they look and see the maelstrom and the Ocean’s Soul are still present and appear unchanged. It’s started raining. The steps reappear in the side of the cliff and they are able to walk back up to the cliff top.

At the cliff top, they find the stone throne where Mizula was is now empty. Chaz runs forward in a panic, and spots a faint trail going into the woods.  There he finds Mizula, emaciated and aged.

Se’ku notes that Mizula resembles the elven woman he’d seen in his previous vision, except then she was young and hale and vibrant.

Chaz is deeply concerned for her sickly appearance.  He questions how she stopped being a statue and what’s wrong with her. Mizula tells him she was never a statue, but that she was stuck in that chair for centuries. She says that she and her friends were betrayed long ago, and she is in hiding.

Chaz asks if Zek’kar is the one who betrayed her, and she says no. She asks if they have heard of Remph.  Chaz and Talice remember the blind fortune teller claimed to have gotten his abilities from a Remph.

Mizula says Remph meant well, but in his panic he doomed the Old Gods. Mizula has asked Chaz to be her champion in an attempt to undo the damage. She needs the three adventurers to find the rest of the Old Gods’ armaments, and the keys to the gate that her sister is trapped in.

Talice expresses frustration that they’re already on a quest from one God and now they’re being tasked another one by another God.

Mizula immediately corrects Talice that Euphemia is not a God, nor are the other New Gods.

> **Talice**Why can’t gods ever do anything for themselves?**Chaz**Talice! Don't be rude!**Mizula**You're quite sassy, my child.**Talice**Sassy? But it's an honest question. Considering we’re already here because of a different quest we got from a different god, so-**Mizula**They are not Gods**Talice**... Euphemia isn't a God?**Mizula**No, She's not.**Talice**Then what is she?**Se'ku**Wait, what?**Chaz**So I \*wasn't\* propositioned by a Goddess?**Mizula**There are only seven Gods**Se'ku**... so... what is Euphemia then?**Mizula**She is a Platinum Dragon.

All three are stunned. Talice is immediately reminded of the mystery potion the Ivory Celestial had her slip into Euphemia’s drink, and the way Euphemia’s eyes flashed silver.

Mizula says that not all the New Gods are dragons, but none of them are Gods. Zek’kar is half-eladrin and half-drow.

Talice starts questioning if they can believe Mizula. Se’ku asks her to look at the curse of the Allmother on Talice’s arm.

Mizula laments that she’s been secluded for so long, she doesn’t know what the Allmother is. The trio tell her that the Cult of the Elders worship the Allmother, which is a beast in the Wayward Wilds. One of her followers scratched Talice’s arm and left a curse. Mizula asks if it’s related to the curse affecting her woods. They agree it is.

Talice reluctantly shows her the black spot on her arm. Mizula says it seems familiar but is corrupted. She can’t heal it.  She tells them they need to find Lilliana, the Goddess of Life to heal it. The last Mizula heard before going into hiding was that Lilliana was killed, but true Gods are hard to kill. If the trio can find her body and soul, she can be brought back.

Talice, Chaz, and Se’ku all remember that the God of Death said Lilliana was the name of Se’ku’s mother.

Mizula confirms that Azriel, the God of Death is Se’ku’s father. She says he is also in hiding, and is the only one of the Old Gods who is still intermingling with the general populace. He has many aliases and disguises. He has many names, Zepher Rothchild was the name he used when Se’ku was born. He seems to favor names with a ‘z’ in them.

Chaz immediately speculates that Zeek may have also been Azriel.  It would explain why the staff and locket were both able to be handled by Se’ku but no one else.

Mizula perks up and says the locket is the armament of Lilliana.  She is glad the God of Death is in possession of it.

Talice questions why an actual God like Mizula can’t find the false new gods if they aren’t actually gods. Mizula corrects her that she can fight the false gods, but she can’t fight Remph, the God of Time.

Chaz instantly clues in and asks if Corvalis was Remph. Mizula agrees Corvalis is a name that Remph has used before.

Talice again demands to know why Mizula thinks the three of them can fight the God of Time if she can’t.

Mizula insists that if they can find the Gods’ armaments and free her sister, Igniata the Goddess of Fire, then they will have a chance.

Igniata is trapped behind a gate on Iggni, in the infernal realm.

Talice asks Mizula who Verona and Monica are. Mizula answers they were housekeepers for Lilliana and Azriel.

Talice tells Mizula about the interaction between Verona and Zander in the tavern.  Mizula explains that Verona restored the God of Death’s memories to him.

Se’ku questions why he would then kill himself in front of Se’ku.

Mizula simply says that choice makes sense if Azriel has Lilliana’s locket. She tells them to ask Azriel for the locket.

Chaz asks what Mizula’s armament is, and Mizula summons the Ocean’s Soul to her hand, then passes it to Chaz.

“If you accept this, it will grant you a boon of some of my powers.”

Chaz accepts, and the Ocean’s Soul sinks into Chaz’s body.

Mizula apologizes to Se’ku that she cannot restore his memories. She says Lilliana is the one who took them, and is therefore the one who can restore them. Mizula explains that Se’ku’s memories were taken for the same reason why Verona took Azriel’s: to protect them from Remph.

Remph is scared of the Titans in the Infernal Realm.

Mizula is reluctant to explain everything to the three adventurers. She insists that the more they know, the easier it will be for Remph to find them.

Chaz asks about the Ivory Celestial. Mizula refuses to answer.

Chaz remembers that Corvalis claimed to have an apprentice. He questions Mizula if that is someone they should fear. Mizula knows nothing about that.

Se’ku questions Mizula about who and what he is. Chaz points out that if both his parents are Gods, then Se’ku should be one as well. Mizula simply agrees that he is.

Mizula says Se’ku’s parents called him the Twilight Prince, but that was really just a nickname.

The trio debate between themselves if they should continue the quest Euphemia gave them or not. Talice thinks that Zek’kar still needs to be dealt with.

Mizula says that if Corvalis was aware of their first quest, then if they abandon it, it will be a signal to him that they are now on to him.  But if Corvalis was unaware of the first quest, then their abandoning it will not matter.