Episode 21

## Content Warning

CW w/ SLIGHT SPOILERS: This episode contains themes of horror, specifically, blood, violence, and monstrous descriptions and noises some may find unpleasant. These begin after the break and continue to the end!

## Recap

> *The bleak aftermath of the night leaves the family shattered under an ever-shifting sky. As the situation becomes further complicated, can The Strings of Fate intervene before it's too late?*
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### Part 1

There are moments when there are no right words. In the garden shed, the party along with Tasha, the genasi family, and Archie sit in silence. Adela keeps watch at the window, eyes tired. Adelaide stays by her mother, stifling her crying so the noise doesn't attract attention. Cygnet sits off to one side with Aona. Tidus and Tidan are asleep, too tired to mourn. Archie and Renaer both lie on the floor, unconscious and breathing weakly - though for different reasons. Tasha has found herself a corner, and she sits with her knees to her chest, eyes wide and hands wringing nervously.

Azzurum speaks with Aona, thanking him for helping the family. Aona hangs his head, saying that he had failed, but Azzurum disagrees - without Aona, many more would have died. Aona reveals that he had been watching the party the whole time they were in Ciniath, though admittedly for a different reason. He asks if this is a problem, and Azzurum says that it's not - provided Aona isn't trying to use this as an opportunity to get them to trust him and then he turns around and stabs them in the back. Aona jokes that that's a good idea, before leaving to go take a walk.

Vincent approaches Tasha, asking how she is doing. Tasha is clearly overwhelmed, and has a hard time responding to Vincent. She says that it was not like the stories at all - so much blood, so much anger... Vincent gently tells Tasha that adventuring is dangerous, and although some do it for money or glory or power, some people do it because they have to, and it's not all fun. But Vincent reassures her that she will be ok. Tasha asks for some time, and Vincent lets her have it, but leaves her with an offer to teach her to defend herself when she's ready.

On the roof, Lidara keeps watch, listening to the sounds of fighting in the city that - thankfully - never reaches the manor estate.

Vincent switches out with Lidara to take second watch. He can feel the weight of the responsibility of resurrecting Selk, and he feels guilty - like he could have done more to prevent this in the first place. The insecurities, however, continue to intrude, and Vincent realizes that not all of the thoughts are his own. The voice from the amulet intrudes.

The amulet tells Vincent that it's here to help him, saying that it is responsible for many of his powers, such as the psychic blades and mantle of whispers. Vincent disagrees, saying he learned that on his, but the amulet asks - "Did you? Or could you just *do it* one day?" It asks if Vincent had ever met any other bard as powerful as he is, who could save a whole city. It says that Vincent is special, and that is why it is helping him. It also mentions offhandedly that Vincent being special is why the thing that found him in the flower field chose Vincent - it had taken the amulet a little while to find out where that "nuisance" ended up, but it was glad it had finally found it.

As a show of trust, the amulet offers Vincent a question. Although he thinks its a trick, Vincent asks for the amulet's true name, which is Astera. Astera continues to speak about how it is giving Vincent powers, and hints that some day it may make an offer to give him more as a patron. It also says that the deal that currently powers their arrangement was not made between Vincent and Astera, but between Vincent and Tu'eria. As the conversation closes, Astera makes vague threats about "not showing up" for the resurrection, or somehow making it go wrong the next day before the chill in the amulet fades and Vincent is left alone again.

Lidara sleeps outside, and in the night she sees a large creature in the sky, moving with strange jagged movements as it dives down into Wheldon.

The next morning, the party wakes before the others, and Vincent begins the resurrection ritual. Placing the diamond on Selk's chest, he begins to play the violin. Astera's words creep into his mind, that Astera gave Vincent his powers and could somehow interfere here - but he is able to push them back out again, remembering that it was not Astera who taught him to play the violin. Bolstered by memories of larger hands on his and a stern but comforting guidance, the chill of the amulet is replaced by warmth.

As the final note fades into silence, the light that had tethered Vincent to Selk flows down from Selk's forehead to the diamond, which bursts into starlight. Selk begins to breath. Cygnet is the first to notice, and wakes his sisters. They cry as grief turns to joy and the silence of their shared struggle moves to the shared celebration of life. To the twins, they say that this was all just a bad dream.

### Part 2

The dawn light reveals that neither the sky nor the city are as they remember it. The sky is a shimmering gold with swirls of red, undulating slightly like a heartbeat or a breath. In the city, spiraling towers of crystalized crimson rock and ebony stone materialize and dematerialize.

As the party decides on their next steps, they hear a terrible noise from outside the Sanctum. Outside, a large, fleshy bat-like creature with a proboscis (almost like a leech) sniffs around. The appearance of the creature, together with the changes to the city and the sky, remind Vincent of the lower planes - the Hells and the Abyss.

Azzurum can feel the crackle of lightning at his fingertips as his power recognizes contracts all around him. Although the party wants to remain in the Sanctum, Azzurum insists on fighting this creature. They argue, but again, Azzurum steps out into danger and Vincent and Lidara follow.

As they come outside, Lidara gets the first shot, dealing a critical blow to the creature's head. Azzurum quickly dispatches it with two additional Eldritch Blasts from his whip before Vincent or Aona can even help. But even as it dies, they can hear the sound of more creatures in the city, and a large swarm of the same creatures flies overhead.

The party decides to head into the city to see what is happening, and they briefly discuss moving the family before deciding the Sanctum is the safest place. Before they leave, Azzurum tells Aona to protect the family, and that he wants to see a pile of those creatures here when he gets back - Aona says its a tall order, but he can make it happen. Renaer tries to join them, but Vincent insists he stays behind.

In the city streets, they see piles of gold covered in blood, gems, silver plates filled with rotting food, and paintings of nobles with shifting faces and sharp teeth. They also see countless bodies - Thorn and Walsh, noble and commoner - ripped apart, though it is unclear how many were killed by creatures and how many by their fellow citizens.

The arrive at the clocktower, which is flickering between a large jagged structure of blood and rock and the normal version of the clocktower, and they notice that the other towers they had been seeing are also Wheldon buildings.

They spot a living figure in an alleyway, and just then a cackle echoes from the rooftops. Above, a noble - one they recognize from the outfit as being at the ball - looks down. He says that the victim will be a "gift" for Lord Rasyl when he arrives. Three others join him and the foursome leap down to attack. Their teeth are enormous fangs, and their hands end in knifelike claws. As Lidara prepares to shoot, the ringleader's head is blown clean off - Bonnie O'Donogan emerges, revolver smoking. Beside her is a familiar, enormous fire genasi.

As the episode ends, we get a flashback to several hours before. A young noble lies dying in a pool of his own blood. A figure - tall and imposing, born of the blood itself - approaches him and kneels down before sinking fangs into his exposed neck. The young noble's face contorts from fear, to pain, to joy. Instead of the nothingness of death, they feel only the strength of the gift bestowed upon them by their new lord.

## Featured Characters

### The Strings of Fate

* Azzurum Esen-Carr
* Lidara Mormaer
* Vincent Obra
* Renaer Neverember

### Returning

* Tasha Thorn
* Bonnie O'Donogan
* Selk
* Aona
* Adelaide
* Tidus and Tidan
* Cygnet
* Archie
* Astera

### Debut

* Lord Rasyl (mention)
* Tu'eria (mention)
* Fire genasi?

### Mentions

* Finnegan Walsh

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyGXQXtyyOA