Heralds - E8 Summary

**The Heralds of Wayinar: Episode 8 - Flames In The Dark**

**Cast (In order of appearance)**

Player                                                   Role

Russel E. Welch III                            Dungeon Master

Ariel Quinn                                         Rosara

Brad Marsh                                         Obi

Josh Jenkins                                      Vano

Nick Little                                       Cendrillion

Bryan Henery                                   Azathell

The episode begins with Russell introducing and letting the viewers know that he is out of town and at a convention. He describes the set-up for the viewer.

After introductions, we begin the episode back in the outskirts of Himpletorn, in a shack on the perimeter, the party waking up to a streak across the sky. A comet crashes into the mountains making the ground shake. Vano wakes Rosara for the sight, and she asks Cendrillion to fetch Dolben.

Obi has fallen asleep on the rooftop, still affected by his streak filled dreams. Vano wakes him up by tugging him down from the roof by the leg. Vano carries Obi like a shawl around his neck while explaining to a concerned Rosara that Obi is still out cold from the drugs and will be fine.

They agree they need to go, both thinking that the comet could be related to the horror of the jungle they both have seen. They discuss the predicament with Cendrillion, who accuses them of dragging him into their situation. The three of them discuss the Heralds being hunted by the beasts of the old world as Obi continues to sleep through the debate. Cendrillon remembers learning about the creatures of shadow and flame before the breaking.Cendrillon debates with himself and fumbles in his pocket, trying to decide if these revelations make a difference to his quest to help the child.

Rosara goes inside to get Dolben and Ilsa. She discovers that Dolben has already packed for the journey and seemed ready for the trip long before meeting them. She carries their packs and gives the other packed supplies to Cendrillion and Vano.

The group heads around the village, watching the villagers run to the river to prepare for the spreading fire. They seem to be moving away from the heat of the fire. This journey takes them through the night and into the morning when they hear voices nearby. Rosara hears one of the voices talk about sacrifices and skinning Edwed alive. She asks Dolben to step back and hide with Ilsa. She and Vano work on getting Obi awake with comical tactics like clapping and slapping. As he comes to his senses, Obi mutters about Bortool. Vano realizes that Obi is still under the effects of the drugs and asks to give Obi time to return fully. Rosara snaps at Obi to bring Obi back to consciousness. Vano gives Obi the crossbow and asks him to protect Dolben and Ilsa. Before he leaves, Cendrillon checks to see if the effects of the drug could be considered poison. He cannot tell if it will work but casts Protection From Poison, and it reverses the results of the drug.

Vano and Rosara head out to track the voices. They discover cultists skinning someone. The cultists hear Rosara snap a twig and look in her direction. Vano checks to see if he can view what is happening. There are two bodies hung over the camp skinned. He doesn't recall any stories from his elders of this.

Rosara then creeps closer, and jumps out and stabs a cultist with her sword. The combat begins. Vano goes first by using his halberd to attack the first cultist. He lands a blow on him and makes a second attack while declaring he will rage. The cultist struck by Vano attacks and misses with a mace, but his second hit lands a blow to the barbarian.

Two more cultists creep towards the companions. The first of the two swipes at Vano and misses. The second cultist misses Rosara. In return, Rosara pushes him away and attacks with her longsword.

In the distance, Obi and Cendrillion hear the shouting and clang of metal. They creep closer to the engagement. Obi hides and sends two daggers into one of the cultists as Cenderillion uses a spell, a guiding bolt, to harm the other. The spell blows off his arm, leaving a bloody stump in front of Rosara.

The two leave Dolbon and Ilsa behind and enter the fray, with Cenderillion casting spiritual weapon to fight on his behalf. He takes down the cultist missing an arm.

Vano, distracted by the commotion around him, misses his attack on the cultist in front of him. Each of the cultists retaliate but swing inches from his face, missing.

Across the battle, cultists continue to attack the armoured paladin. Both clank against armour, and one has had enough. He turns to run away from her, but her response is swift. She flicks her longsword toward the side as he turns his belly to meet the blade, and his bowels spill onto the ground. He collapses to his knees and then to the dust.

Inspired by the death blow Rosara takes the offensive. She flicks her wrist one way to disembowel the first and spins the blade up and across the throat of the other. His eyes bulge as blood flows down his chest. He grabs his throat, sword falling to the ground. He gurgles and staggers back, collapsing face first, blood spilling into the dust.

With a nod of gratitude to her bushed companions, Rosara leaps across the fallen bodies and crosses the field of battle to Vano's side and slays another cultist. The Edwone wastes no time, her blade lashing a red line on the cultist. In response, he sneers in her direction. Rosara returns the look and brings forth the divine fury of Romar. The head of the cultist splits in two.

Obi and Cenderillion watch their companions in awe. This is the first time Obi has seen Rosara divine smite and take the offensive in battle. Cendrillon also sees what the Paladin can do with her faith in Romar. Obi takes a calculated risk and enters the battle to retrieve his knives. He snaps them up from the dead cultist’s body and sprints through the grove to leap through the fire. The cultist found Obi pinned into him with two daggers as a surprise. Obi sunk blades into the cultist in a blink of an eye. From the fire to the ground was only a matter of moments, and Obi was in front of Vano.

No longer in danger, Dolban, with Ilsa in his arms, and Cenderillion emerge from the trees. As they survey the battlefield, Vano cuts down the victims' bodies. Cendrillon sees Rosara head towards the bodies and follows suit as the cleric and the paladin reach the bodies, Rosara checks to see if she can save them, her fingers glowing with holy light. Cendrillion stops her, citing Balance. He says this Edwed's time has come, pushing her away and halting the magic. Vano, protecting his friend, shoulder checks the tall being, knocking him away from her. With a zing and a thud, the two Edwed push their weapons inches from hurting one another, the spiritual weapon on the back of Vano's neck, and the halbert pressing on Cendreillion's chest.

With everyone distracted, Rosara and Obi make their moves. Obi moves from body to body, looting the dead. Rosara crawls on her hands and knees back to the bodies she was attempting to heal. As she summoned her faith in Romar, she discovered they are beyond healing. She screams a curse at the Edwed around her. Cendrillon moves his focus from Vano to her, and his blade hangs beneath her throat. Vano chimes in about subjective terms. The two healers debate the merits of balancing life and death.

Obi, oblivious to the tense scene behind him, has looted the bodies and found necklaces. He turns to the trio and holds them up, grinning. The tense situation disperses, and the childlike wonder makes Vano smile. Rosara looks for Dolben and Ilsa, finding them at the edge of the forest. The group gathers together as Obi continues his looting, finding three necklaces and some copper coins. He has Rosara review the strange rune on the back. She has seen this before, a rune of protection, marking the Heralds, but not of Romar. Cendrillon takes a moment to comment on the curse of Herald blood. Vano reminds him that the Primes caused chaos in the world. Rosara refocuses the group and leads them away from the fire and the bloodshed behind them.

As they walk away, Rosara and Dolben discuss the child, discovering that she feels better. Rosara discovers that Dolben has nothing but disdain for the mother of his child, citing that she haunts them. He lets Rosara know that when he said, "It has returned", he shouldn't have commented on the fireball events from the sky crashing into the mountain. She coaxes him into telling a story of his youth, a prophecy of doom, where the Ancients return. His grandmother used to tell him the story.

As the group clears the trees and looks towards the mountains, they see it is burning. Only a hazy glow remains. Fire has reached the roots of the vast trees, and the orange light mixes with the rising sun. The world plunges into darkness for a heartbeat as thunder rattles across the mountain.

We now have a flashback to Faltus at a dock. A great catastrophe has ruined the festival day. In the distance, the city scape and the towers reach towards the sky. Down the docks walks Azathell, surveying the wreckage. Dead, twisted, deformed Edwed bodies are piled about. He spots an Edwed minor and places his hand on their shoulder to catch them. The minor explains that the cursed abominations ravaged the city a few days before. Azathell kneels beside the smaller Edwen, producing coins and asking for information. He asks where the harbour master is and who might know the ships the come and go from the docks. After the Edwed accepts the coin and points towards the hut of the harbour, master Azathall scares the man into saying that he never saw him there.

Azathell finds the hut and discovers the dockmaster arguing and fighting over the corrupted books. He watches the man tear through pages, smash things, and try to correct his mistakes before being acknowledged. He offers to help the dock Master in return for information and intimidates him into submission. He inquires into a blue Edwed Minor and a green Boran Major who would have left in the past week. The Dock Master remembers them as it was a unique moment. He shows in his notes where he saw them leave and documented that they were leaving for Jvar-VunGal. He then pulls another book citing the goods that the ship carries and the location where they are normally headed, the port city of Rakmairian.

Azathell thanks the Edwed for the information and praises him for the excellent record keeping. He offers to help the Edwed with his end of the bargain, telling him he will not suffer any consequences for his corrupt bookkeeping. Azathell’s sword forms from shadow, and he stabs the Edwed in the chest. Dark magic flows from the blade and Azathell watches as shadows crawl from the body, and it swiftly rots until only dust remains. The sword vanishes, and Azathell looks through the books to see if there is any more information about his quarry.

Russell ends the episode here. He plugs premium so that premium subscribers can read the works written by staff. Russell lets us know about After Dark. He announces that Emissaries, the premium show, will start soon. As always, he reminds us Chaos awaits in the dark.