Episode 26

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## Plot Summary

Starheart investigates the Flintborne home in search of her family.  She finds it empty and cleared out as most of Copperforge has been evacuated.  Disappointed, Starheart drinks some alcohol she finds.  Nitsuj finds her and tries to convince her to leave.  She blames him for all the evil that’s happened and casts blindness on him.  Starheart leaves, only because she wants to, not because Nitsuj asked her too.  She takes a small whiskey barrel and a family portrait.

Andre sees Nitsuj and Starheart.  He wants to destroy Thaul Alhoon and retake the mountain.  Nitsuj doesn’t think they can fight the demon.  Kurluk is going toe to toe with the fiend Orkan while Alhoon watches.  Andre needs a distraction so he can get off his spell to banish Alhoon.  While they talk, Starheart sends a message to Alhoon, hoping to distract him.  Nitsuj casts invisibility on Andre and summons Ora and Bubo back into the mountain.

Bubo and Ora argue about returning into the mountain.  Bubo is very opposed but Ora drags him inside.  Thaul Alhoon disappears and Kurluk begins losing the battle.  The party hides on the Residential level.  Andre waits on the road while the others hide in a butcher shop. Alhoon appears and Andre attempts to cast banishment but fails.  Nitsuh casts a wall of flame encircling the demon.  Alhoon charges through the fire at Andre who fails to banish him again.  Bubo sits in the corner with his painting.

Thaul Alhoon licks Andre and then teleports to the lower level, empowering Kurluk further.  They all flee to the Peak level.  Andre feels the pain of acid where the demon licked him.  Ora surveys the scene below them.  Klaxxon’s machines battle the freed elementals.  The bolters have exhausted their energy.  The remaining guards and other gnomes also battle the elementals.  The wraiths remain on the outcropping, patiently waiting.  The unknown party continues to approach the mountain, but heads to where the burned crops are.

Starheart examines the Starheart and sees that the light inside it always points west.  The party debates which direction to go.  Starheart wants to go west.  Ora wants to go to her ship.  Nitsuj wants to pursue information about the meteor.  They agree to travel north to make camp for the night at a natural spring on the mountain ridge.

The path to the spring is empty and quiet. Andre removes the curse on himself from Alhoon.  Nitsuj drags behind, exhausted.  Andre spies a piece of cloth on a bush.  When he investigates, he finds a gnome body, devoid of all color: sucked dry by a vampire.  He shows the body to Ora.  The vampires have turned and are collecting their 100 bodies from the injured.   Starheart sends a message to Klack, but gets no response.  Halestorn and Dumeril are sent ahead to find the wounded.  They see a dozen bodies, drained of blood, draped alongside the road.  Nitsuj passes out after Starheart tackles him.  Bubo and Andre find a clearing where they can camp.  Starheart looks for signs of her family, but finds nothing.  Ora can tell that these gnomes were simply meals for the vampires and not an attempt to make new vampires.

During the night, Andre hears movement outside the camp as monsters rush the camp.  The monsters turn out to be Minotaurs.  The lead Minotaur, grey-furred with flowers in his beard, speaks up and says that they were just going to rob them.  Starheart recognizes him as Greyflower and gives him a big hug.  He introduces them to the rest of the Iron Horn: Trislee (female), Ranven (male), Swellbelly (beer belly male), Aletris (male), Ash (female), Dovine (female), and Mahogonis (female).  They have not seen any gnomes, they just heard the sound of battle and thought there might be spoils to steal.  The orcs had raided half their land before coming to Copperforge, so they came to loot the crops.  The Mintoaurs keep watch while the party sleeps.

The next morning, the minotaurs make them breakfast.  They continue north and find more drained bodies.  A fartholder named Roderick (character drop) wanders by, making all their stomachs turn.  It attacks Starheart and battle ensues until Starheart explodes it with holy light.  They continue their travel to the basin covered in poop.  They talk with the minotaurs as they walk.  Greyflower knows the canikin Doro Tott and has heard of Minnow and Lynch, but not Tenoch.  As they arrive at the basin, they spy a cave and some tents in the distance.

## Fun Moments

Ryan tells the spooky story of how long it took them to get internet at their new studio.

When Justin goes to knock on the door as Nitsuj, he’s forced to mime the knock when Andrew actually knocks on the table.

They finally do the fire drill of character swapping when they battle the fartholder.

There are many fart and poop jokes during the fatholder encounter.