Lost Friends & New Allies (The Ballad of Bo & Gal - Part 5)

**Lost Friends & New Allies (The Ballad of Bo & Gal - part 5)** is the thirty fourth episode of *Another Bad Side Quest*. The party and their new allies Boreal Khrist and Galatea Nostru scramble to locate their missing friends and family before journeying on to Krak.

## Lost Friends & New Allies (The Ballad of Bo & Gal - Part 5)

### **Synopsis**

**Pre-Show Shenanigans**

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### **Part One**

The still enraged Alaerith continued to pummel the smeared torn pieces of Baron Elzagerick Vintorvas's corpse underneath his giant ape fists, while the rest of the party attempted to gather themselves around the room. Sterling came from behind the bookcases taxed from the use of so much magic and put his back to it as he slid down to sit on the floor. Boreal, at the locked door and having sent Nubbi out by her teleportation, hacked against with his sword and in one swift strike made a slash in the metal that allowed him to see an empty hallway through the door. Sterling stood, asked if Bo would like to open the door and when Bo confusedly pointed out he couldn't simply stated he could help, cast *Vortex Warp* on Bo and sent him to the otherside of the door through the revealed crack. that he can see through Bo’s slash. Bo unlocked and opened the door from the other side, then turned to run and found Nubbi running down the hall toward him. Bo greeted her in relief, but was disappointed to find she did not return with Tollanessa's sapphire like he had asked. Seeing Nubbi wanted to communicate something Bo cast *Speak with Animals* and Nubbi told him something smelled bad, there was bad magic and that some of the people upstairs weren't okay.

Meanwhile back in the room, after checking all of their party was alive and standing, Quincy went to Sterling and requested their *Ob’s Charm* back. Bo relayed Nubbi’s concerns to the group and wondered if they should check the room above them, just as all most of the party heard a gentle hum in the air coming from the north, in the opposite direction of the to the south. Alaerith tried to crash his giant ape form through the doorway, but the black marble of the building held for most part and the party, all able to see his right eye in that slit shapen, realized they had to calm Alaerith down and bring him back to his elven form to get him out. As Gal attempted to reach out with kind words Sterling told Bo to use his anti-magic to break the spell. Bo reached out with one hand and activated *Anti-Magic Strike* through his touch causing Alaerith’s form to flicker and shift wildly between the giant ape and his elven form. Sterling suggested to move Alaerith while he is shifted noting if he shifted back at the wrong time he could take out a load bearing wall on accident. Quincy stepped forward, tried to look Alaerith in the eye, asked him to focus and come back, and between a miracle and a quick cast *Guidance* from Gal, managed to get through to Alaerith who hit his own head, dropped *Polymorph* completely as his eye reverted back to normal and fell unconscious from the strain. As the hum grows louder RX, noting someone had to carry him, quickly scooped Alaerith up and the party moved out of the office and into the main hall. Gal quickly rushed back into the room, pulled out a piece of fabric, collected some of the ash left of her brother after he burned under her radiant starfire, tucked it away before she followed everyone else.

Out in the hallway, a loud sound came from above causing dust to fall from the ceiling and the floor to shake and when Bo immediately asked if they should go away or towards the sound received a chorus of “away” from the rest of the party. Sterling reminded them they needed to find the gem, but Quincy pointed out the gem was useless if the building collapsed around them. Sterling asked if Nubbi found anything and while Bo replied she didn’t RX insisted they move out of the castle as he ran out of the castle with Alaerith’s unconscious form. Sterling tried to call for RX to wait as Gal cast *Locate Object* on the sapphire, found that it was nowhere within the 1000 foot radius that she can detect and and informed Sterling who cast *Locate Object* as well to be sure. Gal attempted to drag Sterling along to no success as he looked around desperately and asked about his mother. Meanwhile, Bo cast *Recall causing* the world to freeze around him as he left his spot in the hallway, dashed up the nearby stairs, found a short hallway and a door at the end and saw several flashes of lights frozen behind the door. Bo returned to his original position, dropped *Recall*, informed the party that a fight was happening upstairs and unless they intended to join should leave.

RX, having made out the front doors of the *Castle Vintorvas,* continued to move another 50 feet to place Alaerith somewhere more safe. Inside the castle, the party felt a wave of force that knocked all but Quincy down as the floor beneath them shook, causing more things within the hallway to be knocked down and more dust and pieces of black marble to fall. Bo asked what was happening and Yashani said the building was coming down. Bo, seeing Nubbi was injured from the fall, told her to leave and Yashani turned to Sterling, grabbed him firmly, lifted him up and carried him out while he struggled against her. Sterling pleaded for them to help find his mother as they moved and Quincy told him to send one of his “magic letters”. At Quincy’s words he snapped back to himself a bit, pulled out parchment and *Wizardly Quill*, cast *Sending,* asked his mother where she was and if she was alright, but got no response. Sterling asked Tollanessa if she knew, but Tollanessa didn't know either. Quincy activated *Ob's Charm* and called out to Ob to ask the same questions and let him know they were leaving the castle, but doesn’t get a response either.

The party hurried down the main hall towards the front doors and heard another large crack and rumble as the building continued to shake ominously around them. Sterling cast *Detect Magic,* but only detecting the magic items on the party tried to leave Yashani’s arms to run but didn't budge as they ran to the outside. From outside, RX saw the windows of the smaller second level of the castle get blown out at once, followed by a bright glow as something appeared to be charging up. As he saw rocks in the lawn around the castle started to lift from the grass and ground RX picked up Alaerith’s unconscious form and headed for the wall surrounding the castle grounds in the hope of getting to Lysandra’s carriage and a safer distance away. The rest of the party poured out of the castle, noticed the rocks lifting and the growing glow upstairs and split up, with Bo heading to warn people and Gal running for Alaerith and RX. Sterling pushed Yashani to let him down before he reached up, pinched at his temple, pulled out a glowing strand that he stufed into his pocket and in a more calm and assured manner suggested they split off to warn the people closest to the castle to move further away. Meanwhile Bo cast *Cure Wounds* on Nubbi while Gal cast *Cure Wounds* on Alaerith.

All, but the unconscious Alaerith, heard a deafening crack and looked back in time as a red line circled around the second floor, and as if crushed, crumbled in on itself. As the collapsing of the second floor rippled through the rest of the castle as it began to fall Tollanessa recognized the magic as the spell *Disintegrate* and told Sterling. They decided to keep running, with Sterling and Quincy split off and each cast *Minor Illusion* to shout out more warnings, and when they realized the castle’s destruction wouldn't harm the city began to regroup. Sterling cast *Message* to tell Quincy to contact Ob, while he would scour the remains of the castle for any sign of Ob and Bolton and as he did so was followed by Bo and RX who left Alaerith with Gal. Between the party’s searching, RX’s activating *Telekinetic Movement* to lift larger pieces and Gal’s casts of *Locate Object*, targeting the *Ob's Charms* they knew Ob and Bolton wore all they could find were Ob’s bandages and Bolton’s bowler hat. Bo, noticing something about the rubble they moved, saw some were marked with etchings, with one rune that he recognized that represented the Plane of Fire. Bo suggested it was possible Ob teleported them out of the castle which was why they hadn't found them in the rubble. Sterling pointed out that the spell *Disintegrate* targeted creatures, not the objects they possessed like hats or bandages, which was something they should keep in mind, before Bo handed the items left of Ob and Bolton for Quincy to hold. RX asked Sterling and Bo to assemble more of the etched runes and found it created a circle, though some portions were destroyed and unrecoverable, but Sterling was still able to identify it as a *Plane Shift* circle. He also could tell the spell had been cast over and over again in the same spot for years, with runes to indicate a variety of destinations including the elemental planes, as well as *Mechanus* and *Pandemonium*. Sterling explained as much to the party and suggested either Ob destroyed the castle in an attempt to ruin the casting of the *Plane Shift* or it was Lunala. He also asked if it was safe to assume that Lunala was here and Quincy agreed.

Tollanessa noticed something nearby, alerted Sterling, led him to a piece of rubble and found a piece of parchment pinned underneath. He pulled it out and recognized it as a spell page but couldn't read the page. He asked for Tollanessa’s help who pointed out those who worked in the arcane dabbled in their own spells and assumed this was one of Velix’s custom spells. Sterling wondered if he simply dropped the page, but Tollanessa pointed out the ripped edge, noted no self-respecting spellcaster would do that to their spellbook and that Velix left it on purpose. Sterling said they would have to discover what it said, that they had no idea where her sapphire was, that it was probably moved to a different location and Tollanessa agreed it was very valuable. Sterling returned to the group to show them his findings and suggested they go to *Krak.* Quincy, noting he was acting oddly, reassured him that they would find his mother and Sterling, seemingly confused asked why they would need to find her as she was in *Krak* and hence why he suggested going there now. Quincy turned to the group for assistance and Bo stepped in and agreed they should head there now.

Alaerith, now conscious and mostly healed, felt something press into his mind as a female voice asked him if it’s was fun to watch them fight, that all they will do is argue and hate each other, that it would be fun to watch it be brought down and to be friends with her. Not recognizing the voice Alaerith looked around for the source, but found nothing in the area and the voice made it clear he wouldn't find her. As the party noticed Alaerith’s distress and him muttering to himself the voice continued that the group didn't understand him or what he had been through. Sterling noted it must be something in his head and hearing that Bo reached place a hand on Alaerith’s head, activated *Anti-Magic Strike* to disrupt what was happening and successfully broke the connection between Alaerith and the voice. Bo then cursed that he should have tried to identify the magic first, but the party agreed it was alright and that they should not stay in the rubble of the castle any longer. RX and Gal help propped Alaerith up and when he asked what happened or why he was there agreed to explain later.

The party started to head back for the carriages, with Quincy and Bo silently agreeing to avoid Lysandra’s carriage at the front gate, and saw the city was in distress, having seen the castle crumble, but no one had headed towards the castle and were content the destruction didn’t reach the city. When they arrived they saw Sterling’s original carriage was still there, but the one that had housed Lysandra’s foot soldiers was gone. As they approached the waiting carriage, Sterling requested RX tell him when seven hours have passed and when RX agreed to set an alarm sequestered himself inside the carriage to look over the spell Ob left behind. RX set the still confused Alaerith down, asked what all remembered from their battle in the castle. Alaerith recalled they teleported into the office and Vintorvas’ change in his *Herald of Slaughter* form and quickly remembered being attacked looked down at his chest. He also realizes his right arm was revealed and quickly tried to cover them but RX told him no one was concerned with that right now. RX told him every detail that happened, but when he reached the point of Alaerith's ape transformation and the Baron's brutal death Bo and Sterling actively tried to speak over him and prevent him. RX in response activated *Ob's Charm* to continue, which Quincy tried to override as well, but to no avail.

While RX tried to note it was similar to the magic he used to turn into an owl, Alaerith started to tremble immediately and soon heard the voice tell him to calm down as he wouldn't want to lose his mind again. Seeing that he was acting strange Bo reached out to activate *Anti-Magic Strike* again while Sterling tried to offer help help and that they could deal with it when they were safe. As the voice told him to run from the" Alaerith shakily agreed and Sterling cast *Encode Thoughts* to remove the memory, but found it was couldn't work on anyone except himself. Alaerith started to curl in on himself and asked them to stop Bo immediately activated *Anti-Magic Strike* on his head and broke the connection again. Quincy asked Alaerith to explain what was happening and Alaerith said it was a voice in his head, but didn't recognize it. Bo and Gal both felt a pressure on their mind and while keep it at bay, the voice infiltrated Bo’s mind, noted that he enjoyed fun and asked if he enjoyed watching her die. Bo quickly activated *Anti-Magic Strike* on his own head and as the voice disappeared warned the others that the effect was spreading and they should leave. Bo hauled Sterling to the front of the carriage to direct him to *Krak* while the others got into the back and quickly made their way out of the city and toward the trade path to *Krak*. Inside the carriage, Quincy held out a hand for Alaerith to take and when Alaerith hesitated with closed the gap and held his as his hand held hers back. As Bo drove the carriage he spotted a cloaked figure in a nearby alleyway and heard the voice say they would be watching. Bo fired off a shot with his hand crossbow while activating *Anti-Magic Strike* causing the *Major Image* to dissapear. Bo cursed as the voice told him she loved to watch him squirm and he quickly activated *Anti-Magic Strike* on his head again to cut off the voice. Inside the carriage, Alaerith started to cast *Prestidigitation* on himself to clean the Baron's blood he saw over and over again long after all visible signs of the Baron’s blood are gone.

A few hours later, as the three moons rose and night had well and truly fallen over them, Bo brought the carriage to a stop. Sterling leaned around to ask the others if they wanted to stay there for the night and Sterling suggested they carry on as they were only an hour from the town. The party came to a halt at midnight and set about making camp, with Alaerith shakily tending to the horses while RX helped Sterling clear snow where he wanted to ritually cast Tiny Hut. Quincy approached Yashani and asked if she was alright, citing the way Yashani fought in the office. Yashani looked down at her knuckles, bruised and scraped in a way they weren't usually when she used her Ki to fight, and admitted she didn't know. Quincy told her they didn't know what it was, but thought things would have gone worse if she hadn’t and were grateful. Yashani gave no response other than a nod, then wandered to sit at the very edge of the now completed *Tiny Hut.* There, Yashani tried to meditate but when the attempt was thwarted by a deep restlessness that seemed to growl within gave up and tried to sleep instead.

Sterling sat and watched RX, waiting for his alarm to go off, knowing it wouldn't happen until much later and would ruin any attempt at him getting a full sleep. Sterling pulled Bo aside, discussed Bo’s own loss of memory before he revealed he could magically contact one last person for the day, pulled the thought strand he removed earlier, noted whatever it was upset him enough to remove it and wondered if he should put it back before or after he uses his last attempt at *Sending* for the day. Bo noted with his own understanding through context of when the memory was removed, that Sterling may want to reintroduce the memory first. Sterling agreed and explaining he was worried because he was smart enough to know what the memory was about, but was smart enough to know it was more advantageous to figure out where Ob and Bolton are. Bo agreed Sterling was a smart man despite some of his shortcomings and believed Sterling would make the smart decision either way. Sterling thanked him as Bo headed back into the hut, curled in tight around Nubbi and went to bed.

As the rest of the party winded down for rest, Quincy completed a *Witch Bolt* bullet before heading to sleep. Galatea used her dream tethers to reach out to Garrith, Tristan and the Baron, and finding no tethers, lights or connections from them confirmed they were well and truly dead before she fell into the most restful sleep she had had in years. Sterling, eventually seeing the party all asleep around him, reintroduced the thought strand into his mind and cast *Encode Thoughts* again to remove it just as quickly. Sterling then casts *Sending* to Velix, asked where they where, if they were alright and how to use the spell he left, but received no reply. As he waited until the last moment to reintroduce the thought strand, Sterling received a short rest while the rest of the group sleeps around him.

### **Break!**

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### **Part Two**

Alaerith, being the first to wake, found Sterling hunched over the spell scroll Ob had left behind and looking like he hadn't slept. Alaerith reached out to cast *Enhance Ability : Fox’s Cunning* to help his attempt to understand it and Sterling thanked him and asked if he could make coffee as well. Alaerith collected some snow, cast *Shape Water* to melt it to water, cast *Prestidigitation* to heat it to boiling, then cast *Prestidigitation* again to make the water taste like coffee and Sterling allowed himself to be fooled by the placebo effect. As the rest slowly woke, Bo herded them back into the carriage and got back on the front with Gal to keep him company and guide him to *Krak*. As they travelled Sterling came to understand the spell was called *Negative Image* along with how it range and how it worked. RX pointed out his concerned that Sterling looked incredibly tired, but Sterling mostly ignored this, leaned out the carriage window to look at Bo, cast *Negative Image* and instantly swapped places with him. The swap caused a round of concerned chatter, but at the front of the carriage Sterling noted that the spell was disappointing to him and that he hoped it would be something more directly tied to finding their lost friends.

Bo and Sterling eventually swapped back to their original spaces after they stopped the cart and returned back on the road. Sterling looked over the spell again, realized it was not one of the major schools of magic like Conjuration or Transmutation and instead pulled magic from *The* *Shadowfell*. Sterling asked what Ob's origin was, citing that Quincy’s heritage was somewhere between the Planes of Air and Water and Quincy told him Ob was a Sand Genasi. Quincy asked why he wanted to know and Sterling explained the workings of the spell and its origins to *The Shadowfell*. Quincy clarified with Alaerith that it wasn't one of the schools of magic he told them about and he confirms it wasn't and went on to recall the item Yashani briefly used in *The Underdark*, the *Shadow Monk’s Stone*, that allowed for teleportation through shadows. Sterling asked about them meeting Velix in *The Underdark,* noted it was the closest you could get to *The Shadowfell* before entering it and wondered if there was a connection there. Quincy told him Ob was there because he was more free to use his magic outside of the Skorian Empire and Sterling agreed if they ever went to the Empire it would be a pain in his *“hoity-toity ass”*.

At the front of the cart, Bo and Gal kept an eye on their surroundings as they traveled until Bo spotted a large shadow passing over them. Bo looked up and saw it came from a dragon, large and mostly white, with tufts of fur sprouting between scales. Bo told Gal to keep her head down and ignore what is above them, but started to be reminded of his time in *Eveed* and recalled his friend Tank, who knew a decent bit about dragons, and told him about *Boreal Dragons,* which were like if a dragon and a yeti combined to survive the cold of the south of Palamoa. Bo also recalled that Tank considered these dragons to be less hostile than others, and that he knew that for every type of dragon there were only two in existence, which would make the one above him one of only two Boreal dragons to find. Bo started to get twitchy, torn between wanting to follow it and keep on the road and Gal noticed and asked if he was alright. The party inside the carriage started to hear the increase in conversation upfront and Sterling likewise asked if everything was alright. Bo explained the dragon above and what he knew and that he had a hunter’s instinct to follow it and see it up close. Nubbi jumped into Gal’s lap and begins to chirp and cuddle in and Gal cast *Speak with Animals* to ask what Nubbi thought. Nubbi said it didn't know much, that she hadn’t spoken to a dragon in a long time and thought they were nice. When Gal confirmed that Nubbi thought it was a good idea, Bo turned the cart harshly off the road and increased the horses’ speed to keep up with the shadow of the dragon.

The party exclaim their confusion and Bo tried to tell them they were simply taking a detour to *Krak,* but Quincy easily saw through the lie. Quincy stuck her head out and threatened to shoot Bo if he didn't explain himself and when Bo quickly amended that he was following a dragon he believed to be friendly insisted that had to be an oxymoron. Quincy stuck her head back into the cart to tell the others and Sterling wondered why the two newest people were the ones driving them. RX climbed out of the cart from the window on the top of the carriage and managed to keep a decent grip even as Bo's erratic driving threatened to throw him off. RX said hello, asked where they were going and Bo replied he wasn't sure but they were following a dragon. RX wondered if *Krak* wasn’t their priority at the moment and Bo said *Krak* was just a safe place away from *Cessunaler*. Bo assured RX that Nubbi thought it was a good idea though RX was unconvinced as to if Nubbi could speak and that it raised more questions. RX asked why they were following the dragon, along with Gal who wondered as well and when Bo honestly admitted he needed to see one up close RX agreed to that.

Inside the carriage, Sterling told Quincy he thought Bo had convinced RX and Quincy sighed and wondered if there wasn’t anything life threatening to get to in *Krak*. Sterling reminded them of the demon book and Quincy noted they didn’t want to bring that into the city anyway. Sterling leaned out the window to ask Bo what they were doing and in unison Bo, Gal and RX pointed up to show Sterling the dragon above them. Sterling reported this back to the others, but Quincy told him they knew that and wanted to know why they were following the dragon. Sterling noted it was a cool looking dragon and Quincy yanked Sterling back into the carriage, leaned out the window and looked as well. RX pounded on the top of the cart, announce they appeared to have made the executive decision to follow a dragon and Quincy came back in the cart to ask Yashani if this was truly a crazy idea. Yashani admitted she didn't think there was a good reason to follow the dragon and Quincy told her that apparently the fox thought it was a good idea. Yashani asked why they were listening to an animal as Nubbi *Misty Stepped* into the carriage and onto Yashani’s lap. Sterling noted the fox was wiser than most of the group, which immediately offended Yashani and Gal, though Quincy shrugged and admitted it was probably true in Quincy's case.

Yashani asked again if there was any good, tangible reason to follow the dragon and Sterling called out Tollanessa who told him, as far as she remembered, those types of dragons were very intelligent, lived in the tundra, but not much more was known. Sterling asked if Tollanessa wanted to come along and get some information on a dragon and when Tollanessa readily agreed, quoting Quincy’s typical “fuck yes”, Sterling pointed out this has to be a good idea if the Goddess of knowledge thought so. Quincy looked between Alaerith and Yashani, shrugged and said it had been a long time since they had done something just because and not because they were on the run or under threat of their lives. Yashani said she recalled the tent building contest not long ago and Quincy and Alaerith realized they never really decided a winner, but that didn't matter much now. Yashani added they were along for the ride because it did not like she could leave or tell them it was a bad idea to follow the dragon because she didn't know herself and hadn't seen one before. Sterling asked if Yashani wanted to look out the window at it, receiving a chorus from Bo, RX and Quincy who encouraged her to look as it flew overhead. Sterling told her more about the dragon, the quiet way it flew and how it was relatively slow but could easily eat any of them and Yashani admitted that sounded terrifying. Quincy admonished him for not helping, noting there was always a risk with dragons and Yashani just told him that if it ate him she didn't care before she leaned back in her seat and looked out the window as the rolling tundra passed outside. In the quiet that followed, Alaerith took out one of his rations, offered it to Nubbi, who took it with no issue, then floated sideways out the window, waving one of his tails in response to Alaerith waving goodbye to it, and returned to the front with Bo and Gal.

As Bo continued to drive the carriage, leading it over snowy mounds and between rocks and trees wildly, Gal asked if Bo was alright after yesterday’s fight. Bo said he was fine and explained that he still doesn’t fully understand his magic and didn't always go well for him to use it. Gal reminded him that she could help if he over extended himself and he thanked her before pointing out it was easier when it was just the two of them but now they had several more people to care for. Bo added that if it meant helping them then he didn't mind being a little worse for wear at the end of the day. Gal asked if he thought the group was okay and Bo noted they had found themselves in a bit of a troubled group. RX readily agrees to that comment, which reminded Bo and Gal they were not alone, and added they found the party at what was likely the worst possible time. Bo invited RX to sit on the front bench with them and RX accepted as he slid down between the two. RX asked if the both of them were alright after what happened yesterday and when asked which one he referred to RX said both since he didn't know either of them well. Gal noted she was okay and Bo said while he wasn’t sure what they were walking into that he had definitely seen worse. RX asked how far off track this dragon was taking them and was assured it was only a little ways off the road and should not be hard to navigate back to *Krak*.

RX lowered his voice, explained that he thought yesterday’s fight was supposed to mean something for his group and worried it wasn’t as cathartic as they had hoped. Gal wondered if he knew how they felt and RX admitted he didn't and had no idea how they felt. Bo noted that after he and his friends back home finished a hunt, they would go to a tavern and celebrate a successful kill, but no one in the group seemed particularly happy that the Baron was dead. RX asked if any of the creatures Bo had killed on his hunts had previously killed his friends before he killed it and Bo, a bit caught of guard by the question, said no. RX supposed that was probably the problem and the front of the carriage soon grew quiet.

Back in the carriage and being slightly around by Bo’s chaotic driving, Sterling asked Yashani for her help as he viewed her as the most mild mannered of their group and admired how she handled most things and Yashani asked what he was getting at. Sterling told her he had two thought strands, one a beautiful white and the other dark with the word murder on the side, in his pocket and when Yashani interrupted to say him she had no idea what a thought strand was explained he removed memories from his mind with a bit of magic. At that point, having previously tried to avoid listening in, Quincy and Alaerith listened within the small carriage.

Yashani asked why he would do something like that and Sterling explained that one removal was obvious, as the strand looked dark and scary and likely involved stressful emotions he was too busy to deal with at the moment. Yashani asked what if they were memories Sterling needed to move forward before warning they would catch up with him eventually. She added that she was well versed in avoidance, that it ultimately failed her. She went on to say if what he had yet to ask was if she thought he should reintroduce the memories before the spell expired and they were lost, then she believed he should because even what he didn't know would hurt him. Sterling admitted he thought knowing everything would make him more powerful, more helpful to those around him, that he knew he would ultimately reintroduce the memories before they expired and would remove them again all the same because he could not watch knowledge turn to dust in his hand. Sterling explained what his real question was what he should do after he stopped removing it. Yashani told him he would need to learn to live with it, to adjust like since not everyone had the luxury of removing bad memories and was what her teacher would call a bad habit. Sterling thanked her, told her he would wait a while longer and try to rest without it, but would eventually put it back before it expired.

A few hours passed and Bo eventually found a more level path to lead the carriage and eased the bumpiness of the ride while he continued to follow the shadow of the dragon. Alaerith pulled out the spell sheet Ob had given him before going to *Cessunaler* that he was told was for emergencies and gave it to Sterling to look at as he thought he might better understand how it was to be used. Sterling agreed, but when he noted that he couldn't understand what language it was written in Alaerith said that was a *Plane Shift* that would take them to the Abyss. Sterling explained that the Abyss and the Nine Hells were similar in that they were planes of infinite evil and malice, but while the Nine Hells had nine distinct layers, the Abyss was an endless void of chaos and strife. Sterling added that chaos was why he marked a particular spell off his list and revealed a mostly completed, but scribbled out *Summon Lesser Demons* spell, because of its unpredictability and it’s required component of fresh humanoid blood. Alaerith confusedly looked to Quincy and Yashani and when Quincy recalled that Ob gave him that spell scroll and Alaerith agreed and said it was supposed to be for emergencies. Yashani said she couldn't think of a situation in which they would want to transport themselves to the Abyss, but Sterling pointed out that *Plane Shift* opened a door that in theory they could shove anyone through.

Yashani moved on to ask Alaerith how he knew the language of the Abyss, with comments from the rest of the group that it wasn’t exactly a language one learned. Sterling agreed and pointed out it was only spoken by chaotic people that weren’t prone to teaching, unlike similar difficult to learn languages like Infernal or Primordial, though it seemed Yashani, Sterling and Quincy could all speak the latter. Alaerith pressed his hands to his face and said he didn't know, that he could just read it like it was Common for him and Sterling commented it's weird and would need to be figured out later. Alaerith offered to translate what he could read and sat with Sterling until he started to understand it briefly, then rested for a time.

Eventually Sterling gave in to his need for rest, leaned back in a corner to try and rest his eyes and thought over everything that had happened. He also tried to ask Tollanessa about the demon book they were carrying but she replied that she didn't currently know and reminded him her consciousness ebbed and flowed and to keep trying. Sterling agreed and pointed out they would be collecting more and more information with time, maybe some from the dragon and some Abyssal, and maybe it would be more helpful than it all appeared right now. Tollanessa questioned him saying Abyssal and when Sterling asked if she didn’t hear Alaerith speaking it said sometimes she took a few moments to herself and was not *always* listening. Sterling questioned where she went and Tollanessa told him she went back into the book. Sterling suggested maybe when the party eventually got him killed he could join her there and Tollanessa told him the book was her home and where she went to relax. When Tollanessa briefly stated she turned herself into a book Quincy interjected to ask if that was on purpose. Tollanessa replied she did so she could preserve her mind as it would have been a waste of knowledge after her death. Sterling noted she was just waited for someone to find the book and that he was now her proxy in the land of the living. He also added that having a voice in your head so long eventually made you more sassy about it and Tollanessa insisted she didn't talk that much. Quincy retorted that Sterling just said a lot of things that requires sassy responses and Tollanessa agreed to Quincy’s joy and Sterling’s annoyance.

Sterling suggested he would take a nap and put the thought strands back into his mind, but asked Tollanessa if she could transfer to Quincy's mind for the time so he could be alone in his own mind. Tollanessa reminded him that was not how it worked and instead physically manifested herself into her incorporeal form in the carriage before she floated up to the top of it, watched the tundra around them and chatted politely with the three at the front of the cart. RX took the Goddess of knowledge’s presence nearby as the perfect opportunity to question her on everything she remembered about the world in general and learned a great deal about ancient history, but nothing about the recent centuries as Tollanessa had been dead for nearly a thousand years. Inside the carriage, Yashani watched Sterling closely as he reintroduced the thought strands to see how he reacted to them. Sterling started with the darker of the two, labelled *murder* in dark letters, shook as it came back to him and grappled with the memory of killing Tristan Vintorvas, someone he knew and grown up with, even if the man was a horrible bully to him and Yashani saw signs of vindication and revenge, but ultimately, Sterling struggled with the memory as guilt wrapped together with the rest. Almost as if to cover the memory of the first, Sterling slammed the second, white and bright memory into his mind and his body relaxed, but his face fell. Sterling stopped fidgeting as his face grew solemn and seemed to grapple with something like regret before he attempted to fold himself into a similar position as he had seen Yashani do to meditate, tried to relax as best he can and squinted his eyes in an attempt to not sob.

A little while later after watching Sterling rest, Quincy activated *Ob’s Charm* to ask what the party thought would happen now with Bo and Gal and when RX offered to ask hurriedly asked him to hold off. Yashani believed the party had included them in on some things that they could not easily walk away from and when RX pointed out they did the same with Sterling questioned if they were too destructive to be an *Order of Restoration*. Alaerith asked what they were planning to do, after the dragon of course, and RX said *Krak* was likely their next destination as they had accomplished their goal of killing the Baron. Alaerith assumed the group was unable to find “them” and when Quincy talked about possibly finding Ob and Bolton elsewhere Yashani corrected that she believed Alaerith was talking about Killian and Tabernacle. Quincy pointed out the Baron had no reason to keep their bodies and that the Baron’s death was likely as much closure as they would get. Quincy went on to say they once again managed to entangle two more people into their “asinine hope to do any good” and Yashani corrected it as three, possibly four if they count Nubbi. Nubbi chirped from the front of the carriage as Quincy admitted the fox was smarter than Quincy was comfortable with. When Nubbi seemed to respond yet again to her mention, the party was left to wonder if the fox could hear them speak telepathically over the charm.

RX asked if there was anywhere else the party wanted to go before leaving the *Puhan Trading Company* and Yashani noted she wanted to find the monks Ob told her about, but also believed that they needed more information. She lamented that they had been several steps behind due to lack of information and that they had heard from multiple sources that the place to find information was *Vayilcor* which RX seemed excited by and noted information was all he had ever wanted. Quincy wondered if Bo and Gal would come with them if they went and when RX offered to ask said they wanted to know if the party wanted to keep them around, as much as they believed it would be bad to cut them loose at this point. Alaerith pointed out Gal’s goal was successful and was able to go home, but didn't know anything about Bo. Yashani replied they would just have to see and Quincy asked to do the honors of asking if they would like to stay. RX noted it might be a question for Sterling as well, but Quincy argued they had already thoroughly “adopted” him into their group already.

At the front of the carriage, RX looked between Bo and Gal for a moment before saying he had a question for them. RX explained that nearly two weeks ago the party had formed a group called the Order of Restoration with himself, Alaerith, Yashani, Quincy, as well as three others, to help fix the situations they found themselves in that had quickly piled up. He told them that since their numbers had dwindled that the group needed help would like their help moving forward and Gal asked if the rest of the party was alright with this. RX explained they had been talking about it for several minutes and Gal commented that explained RX’s recent odd behavior. Bo told Gal if she was in then he was as well could use a new hunting party. Gal said she would have to contact her uncle to tell him what happened, but since she likely couldn't go home right away she would like that. RX officially welcomed Boreal, Galatea and Nubbi as members into the Order of Restoration.

Sterling grumbled that he wasn't asked and RX called back that he thought he was asleep. Sterling replied that he was meditating and when RX said he didn't know what that meant as Yashani hadn’t explained it yet said that he thought it means sitting with your bad thoughts and it wasn't nice. Gal hearing that leaned around the front of the carriage to see Sterling, activated *Mind Link* to ask if he was alright and Sterling honestly admitted he was not. Gal apologized and noted she wanted to wait until there was a better time to talk and thank him for all his help. Sterling asked if she knew the *Sleep* spell but she says replied she did not and offered to help him sleep peacefully through her dream tether. Sterling gratefully accepted the help, just wanting to sleep and not think about what was happening.

With that, the newly formed party rid further into the tundra following the dragon's shadow.

1. ↑ Sterling used his chance at answering the question accurately through a force of Tollanessa’s spellbook
2. ↑ Sterling cast the cantrip *Encode Thoughts* to remove a memory and transformed it into a tangible string of glowing energy
3. ↑ One of *Prestidigitation's* usable effects is to *"chill, warm or flavor up to one cubic foot of nonliving material for one hour"* and is the trick that he used to allow Seren to taste food
4. ↑ *Negative Image* can be cast within 120 feet and instantly swaps places with a creature if they are unable to make a constitution save