...And Stay Dead!

***...And Stay Dead!*** is the final episode in *Second Glance* and is the first to unite all three player characters in *Mystra & the Crystalline Curse*.

## Slaughter of the Centaurs

After bidding adieu to Janvair and Diala, Waylon and Gavina decide to set forth into the sylvan wilderness. As they walk, Waylon contemplates the whirlwind of events leading to him to this place, overwhelmed by the urgency of it all. Gavina tries to shake the image of her lover's dead eyes petrified in solid emerald.

After paying respects to a derelict statue of Corellon Larethian, the party comes to a sparkling porcelain fountain surrounded by flowerbeds. As Waylon reaches out to pick a beautiful flower, his eyes follow the stem down to a grotesque sight: the eyeball of centaur half-consumed by plant life! Gavina shouts, "We need to get out of here. There are fresh corpses everywhere!" before picking up the dwarf and rushing back into the thick of the forest.

## Night of the Living In-Laws

The sun had set at the end of a long day's journey when the pair arrived at a small gulch. Across it, Waylon could hear the strumming of an unfamiliar tune. Advancing toward the source, Waylon halted and urged Gavina to follow him. From behind a haybale, the two quietly observed two decomposing bodies standing before the farmhouse door, their arrhythmic *plod, plod, plodplod* of their fists disrupting the beauty of an otherwise inspiring performance.

Inside, Arpeggio signs off his supplicating serenade with six swift strums of his harp. Bosun Klinp looks to his sobbing wife Marguerite before finally emptying out a vase sitting on a nearby shelf. Bosun reveals to Arpeggio a leather bag containing six beans. Arpeggio looks into Bosun's eyes, puzzled, before he hears a blood-curdling shriek coming from outside. Swiftly, Arpeggio exits the farmhouse to find the burning corpse of Marguerite mother next to a tall bale of hay. He hears a slow and somber tune coming from the darkness beyond.

Håkon, taking a different approach, passes through the Klinp's rear door to find a most curious sight: a dwarf dazzling Marguerite's dead dad! Gavina, Arpeggio, and Håkon look on as Waylon walks slowly backwards from the zombie (trodding in horse manure in the process) playing *I'm Only Sleeping* by Yovan Lenaeus (in the style of Boba Tomasin, of course).

Arpeggio approaches the standing corpse, placing a bean in its mouth, when it suddenly explodes.

## Unity

After cleaning themselves off, the group introduce themselves to each other. Waylon explains that he was sent by Mystra and the Emerald Cabal to accompany Arpeggio on his quest.

A groggy Garren arrives, ecstatic to find his long lost love Gavina! Watching the two crystalline figures embrace, Waylon kicks himself for not having acted on his instincts sooner.

Having effectively murdered Marguerite's parents, Håkon and Arpeggio feel they have overstayed their welcome, deciding to set up camp outside. The others follow suit. During the night, Arpeggio sneaks into Håkon's tent where they discuss their past and their future as friends. He returns to his tent shortly after.

## Notes

1. ↑ The flower Waylon nearly picks is a ruby blushrose, a flower whose pollen is poisonous to most creatures. Its name derives from the characteristic blush of a victim's skin after inhaling its deadly aroma.

## Bibliography

Ball, Beth, and Ball, Jonathan. "Second Glance." *Crystalline Curse Trilogy*. Dungeon Masters Guild, 8 June 2019, https://www.dmsguild.com/product/279400/Crystalline-Curse-Trilogy-BUNDLE.